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Jürg Hafner, MD; Ioannis Botonakis, MD; Günter Burg, MD

Arch Dermatol. 2000;136:857-863.

Objective  To study the interface pressure between the leg and 8 different multilayer bandage systems during postural changes, exercise (walking), and over 2 days of wear time.

Design  Comparison of 8 different compression bandages under standardized conditions.

Setting  Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Participants  A series of 10 healthy volunteers, 5 females and 5 males, aged 26 to 65 years.

Intervention  An electropneumatic device was used to measure interface pressure at 12 points of the leg.

Main Outcome Measures  (1) Pressure changes from the standing to the sitting and supine position at rest, (2) pressure amplitude during exercise (200-m treadmill walk at 3.2 m/s, 0° incline), and (3) pressure decrease over 2 days of wear time.

Results  Results are given as median with the 10% to 90% confidence intervals. Multilayer bandages of short and medium stretch showed a larger pressure decrease when the patient was supine (eg, 3 short stretch bandages: 18.0 mm Hg [reference range, 15.5-19.5 mm Hg]) than systems of medium and long stretch bandages (eg, 4-layer bandage, 6.0 mm Hg [reference range, 4.5-7.0 mm Hg]) (P=.005). The amplitude of pressure waves during exercise was comparable among most multilayer bandage systems. The pressure loss over time was the smallest in elastic bandages (eg, 4-layer bandage, 6.0 mm Hg [reference range, 0.0-10.5 mm Hg]), compared with short stretch bandages (eg, 3 short stretch bandages, 18.0 mm Hg [reference range, 16.5-20.5 mm Hg]) (P=.005).

Conclusions  Highly elastic multilayer bandage systems showed the smallest pressure loss over several days, but the small pressure decrease when the patient was supine makes them potentially hazardous to patients with arterial occlusive disease. Short stretch bandages and the Unna boot with an inelastic zinc plaster bandage generate large pressure waves while walking and showed a marked pressure decrease when the patient was supine, but they lose a lot of their pressure within the first hours of wear. Multilayer systems composed of short stretch and cohesive medium stretch bandages represent a good compromise between elastic and inelastic bandage systems (moderate pressure loss over time, large pressure decrease on lying down). The clinical effectiveness of the different types of compression still remains to be studied.

From the Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. The authors have no commercial, proprietary, or financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.

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