Alterations in pressure under elastic bandages: experimental and clinical evaluation.

Clinical and experimental studies of pressure under elastic bandages are performed in order to assess their effectiveness in compressing wounds to prevent edema in burn wounds. In experimental studies, pressure decreased slowly over a day when applied with a tension of 250 grams to a limb model without a pad. However, pressure decreased a little more rapidly when applied using a pad, especially when the pad became wet. In clinical studies among patients, the pressure under the elastic bandage decreased more rapidly over time than it did in the experimental studies. From those findings, although harmful side effects such as circulatory disturbances will not occur when an elastic bandage is applied on the limb with a tension of 250 grams, it is very difficult to maintain the initial level of pressure correctly and control the pressure for even the duration of a single day clinically.