Which description matches Stage 3 pressure injury?

Which description matches Stage 3 pressure injury?

• A. Stage 1 involves intact skin with non-blanchable redness
• B. Stage 2 involves shallow, partial-thickness skin loss
• C. Stage 4 involves exposed bone, tendon, or muscle
• D. Stage 3 involves full-thickness skin loss with fat visible

Answer: (D)

Understanding pressure injury staging means recognizing how deep the tissue damage goes. For Stage 3, the wound shows full-thickness skin loss with fat visible in the wound bed. This means the injury goes through both the epidermis and dermis and extends into subcutaneous tissue, but bone, tendon, or muscle are not exposed yet. The visible fat in the wound bed is the key feature that distinguishes Stage 3 from the shallower partial-thickness loss of Stage 2 and from Stage 4, where deeper structures like bone, tendon, or muscle are exposed. If the skin were still intact with non-blanchable redness, that would be Stage 1, and if the wound exposed bone, tendon, or muscle, that would be Stage 4. So the description describing full-thickness skin loss with fat visible matches Stage 3.

Understanding pressure injury staging means recognizing how deep the tissue damage goes. For Stage 3, the wound shows full-thickness skin loss with fat visible in the wound bed. This means the injury goes through both the epidermis and dermis and extends into subcutaneous tissue, but bone, tendon, or muscle are not exposed yet. The visible fat in the wound bed is the key feature that distinguishes Stage 3 from the shallower partial-thickness loss of Stage 2 and from Stage 4, where deeper structures like bone, tendon, or muscle are exposed. If the skin were still intact with non-blanchable redness, that would be Stage 1, and if the wound exposed bone, tendon, or muscle, that would be Stage 4. So the description describing full-thickness skin loss with fat visible matches Stage 3.