A comparison of inferface pressures of three compression bandage systems

To measure and compare the interface pressures achieved with two compression bandage systems - a four-layer system (4LB) and a two-layer short-stretch system (SSB) - with a new two-layer system (2LB), which uses an etalonnage (performance indicator) to help achieve the correct therapeutic pressure for healing venous leg ulcers - recommended as 40 mmHg.

32 nurses with experience of using compression bandages applied each of the three systems to a healthy female volunteer in a sitting position. The interface pressures and time taken to apply the systems were measured. A questionnaire regarding the concept of the new system and its application in comparison to the existing two systems was then completed by the nurses.

The interface pressures achieved show that many nurses applied very high pressures with the 4LB (25% achieving pressures > 50 mmHg) whereas the majority of the nurses (75%) achieved a pressure of < 30 mmHg when using the SSB. A pressure of 30-50 mmHg was achieved with the new 2LB. The SSB took the least time to be applied (mean: 1 minute 50 seconds) with the 4LB the slowest (mean: 3 minutes 46 seconds). A mean time of 2 minutes 35 seconds was taken to apply the 2LB. Over 63% of the nurses felt the 2LB was very easy to apply.

These results suggest that the 2LB achieves the required therapeutic pressure necessary for the management of venous leg ulcers, is easy to apply and may provide a suitable alternative to other multi-layer bandage systems.