1.Ingenious Use of Elastic Bandages, Cast Paddings, and Self-Adhesive Bandages to Maintain Compression of Bandages for the Prevention of Deep Venous Thrombosis
Yuko UNUMA ; Tomoko WATARAI ; Shoko KONNO ; Kazuko KUROSAWA ; Chikako ENOMOTO ; Minako SATO
Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine 2017;66(4):515-520
The Department of Plastic Surgery in our hospital uses compression stockings as a preventive measure against deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Elastic bandages are also used in patients with bone protrusion, skin lesions, or with no size-matched stockings. However, elastic bandages are associated with problems such as inconsistent compression force, ready loss of compression, and local skin lesions due to compression. Therefore, to address these problems, we developed a new bandaging technique by layering different types of bandages (multi-layer bandages), evaluated changes in compression using a measurement device, and examined skin condition after 6 h. On average, the compression of elastic bandages and multi-layer bandages decreased by 52% and 37.4%, respectively, after 6 h (t-test, P = 0.036). Skin wrinkles were finer with the multi-layer bandages. These results suggest that multi-layer bandages are less likely to loosen and that cast paddings prevent bandages from compressing the same local areas. However, because previous research warns of using elastic bandages as an easy way to prevent DVT, it is important to acquire accurate knowledge and master skills for bandaging with proper compression.