Vascular surgen Hospital Angeles del carmen Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Objective: The textile industry provides only rectangular elastic bandages. The use of rectangular bandages on the human leg, which is cone shape, can cause the wrapping to become undone and may delay ulcer healing. To compare the average profile sub-bandage pressure (PSP) of Spiral Logarithmic Bandage (morphologic) Vs the SPP of a rectangular bandage (RB), both made from the same inelastic modulus 0f 68 N/M2.
Methods: A natural spiral logarithm was drawn on the lower limb of a volunteer to obtain a template. The obtained bandage is a replica of the leg morphology; as the spiral grows from distal to proximal, the bandage becomes wider and curved. Five spiral logarithmic bandages and five rectangular bandages of the same elastic modulus, 62 Newtons/M2, initial area (2500 cm2), same length and rotation radius, were made. The morphologic bandage was applied by means of a conic bandager and the cylindric one was used to apply the rectangular one; both of them from proximal to distal onto conic legs with a calf-ankle average difference of 20 CMS with a constant circular motion and a 50% overlap, thus conforming a bilayer wrapping in ten human volunteers without padding. The bandages were applied by a descendent constant rotational movement producing a positive tapering tension release force, determined by lever effect of the bandage radius and extent of spring compression. The initial average force was 800 and the final one 1400 grams. Then, sub-bandage pressures were measured at 5 cm. intervals along the anterior border of the leg, before and after 30 minute walking time. The summatory was expressed as total pressure.
Results: There was no significant difference in average compression pressure: Rectangular 55 mm Hg Vs 57 mm Hg. for the morphologic bandage. However, after walking, the rectangular bandage lost 31% of effective resting compression pressure.
Conclusions: Through the application of a high modulus curved spiral bandage onto a conic shape leg, thus matching the limb morphology, a tapering compression profile that remains very effective after a 30 minute walking, was obtained.