Long-term therapy of second and third degree burns in children using Jobst-compression suits

Thirteen children, aged between 2 1/2 and 14 years, with full-thickness burns are presented. These children were treated with compression suits according to the method developed by the Jobst Institute in Toledo, Ohio. The material manufactured in Switzerland is described and the advantages and disadvantages of this material are discussed. Group I comprised 8 children who were fitted out with the suit directly after the burns had healed. These were all scalds covering 11 to 30% of the body surface and necessitating Thiersch grafts. Group 2 comprised 5 children who were only fitted with this suit 3 months to 2 years after the original accident. By that time they had all developed massive, hypertrophied scars, limiting flexion and extension of the joints. In the first group the skin colour rapidly returned to normal, the development of hypertrophic scars was not marked and these scars had a definite tendency to regress. Nine of ten affected joints either became normal or showed a considerable improvement in function. In the second group, 19 of 25 affected joints had become normal one year after the suits had been fitted and four showed definite improvement. Here the scars regressed, although admittedly slower than in the first group. The children appeared to wear the suits without discomfort or trouble.