Theory and Practice of Compression Therapy for Treating and Preventing Venous Ulcers

Efficacy of Mobiderm® Bandage in Compression Therapy for Venous Ulcers: A Prospective Case Series

Background: Venous leg ulcers severely affect patients' quality of life due to its high morbidity and recurrent nature. Currently, compression therapy is the first-line treatment for venous leg ulcers. Aim: This study sought to evaluate the efficacy of the Mobiderm® technology developed by Thuasne in a prospective case series of venous leg ulcers. Methods: Nine patients (N  =  9) with venous leg ulcers were enrolled into this case series. Mobiderm® bandage was applied on to the affected limbs of the patients in the multi-component bandages system. The bandages were changed as frequent as the patients had their wound dressing for their standard treatment in a 12-week duration. Wound size and calf circumference were measured at week 0 and week 12. Paired sample t-test was used to compare the mean values of wound size and calf circumference pre- and post-treatment. Results: Reductions in wound size and calf circumference were observed in all nine patients (100%). Five patients were evaluable at week 12. The wound sizes significantly reduced by 27.2% to 53.2% (p  =  0.02), and the calf circumferences significantly reduced by 3.2% to 26.0% (p  =  0.02) after 12 weeks (N  =  5). Safety was unremarkable, with no occurrence of treatment-emergent-related adverse event. Conclusion: Mobiderm® bandage was reported to be effective in promoting wound healing and reducing swelling, suggesting it to be integrated in the compression therapy for the management of venous leg ulcers.

Comparison of the Efficacy of Two Elastic Bandages for Forearm Hematoma After Transradial Coronary Intervention

Background: This study compares the efficacy of two elastic bandages in treating forearm hematoma after transradial coronary intervention.

Methods: A total of 60 patients with moderate or severe forearm hematoma following transradial coronary intervention were enrolled in this study. They were randomly divided into two groups, as follows: an Idealast-haft elastic bandage group (the observation group) and a control group. The patients in the Idealast-haft elastic bandage group received compression bandaging with Idealast-haft elastic bandages and the patients in the control group received compression bandaging with Nylexorgrip elastic bandages. Observation indexes related to, for example, forearm pain, arterial pulsation, blistering, skin color, and hemostasis time were compared between the two groups.

Results: The results revealed that the times taken for pain disappearance, arterial pulse recovery, blister disappearance, skin color recovery, and compression hemostasis were significantly shorter in the Idealast-haft elastic bandage group than in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The hematoma range and the arm circumference at the severest part of the hematoma decreased faster in the observation group than in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The Idealast-haft elastic bandage is more effective than the Nylexorgrip elastic bandage in patients with forearm hematoma following transradial coronary intervention and should therefore be used in such cases.

Reflections on lymphoedema deployment into community services during the pandemic

During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, district nursing teams were overwhelmed with their caseload due to the palliative care needs of their patients. This led to patients with wet legs and chronic wounds deteriorating due to staffing levels. Therefore, the Swansea Bay University Health Board and Lymphoedema Network Wales teams redeployed two working time equivalents (WTE) into the community to take over the management of these patients with chronic wounds for 4 months. The clinicians came from a variety of different backgrounds, including nursing, physiotherapy, emergency medicine and occupational therapy. Between the teams, 866 visits were carried out over the 4-month period, where patients' compression therapy was altered to promote healing and reduce oedema. At the end of the 4-month period, 21% of the patients were discharged off the district nursing caseload completely, while of the 60% who were still active caseload patients, 35% were in increased compression and 20% had reduced need for visits.