Bandage

From LIMSWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

Achilles bandaging Patroclus. Tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, ca. 500 BC, from Vulci.
Bandage wrapped around a woman's head, secured with surgical tape
Bandages are also used in martial arts to prevent dislocated joints.
The double-spica bandage used on thigh injuries in ancient Greece

A bandage is a piece of material used as support for a wound or injury, or to provide compression.[1] When used with a dressing, the dressing is applied directly on a wound, and a bandage is used to hold the dressing in place. Other bandages are used without dressings, such as elastic bandages, which are used to reduce swellings or to provide support to a sprained joint. Bandages used in healing protect the area from contamination and further trauma.[2] Tight bandages can be used to slow blood flow to an extremity, such as when a leg or arm is bleeding heavily.

Bandages are available in a wide range of types, from generic cloth strips to specially shaped bandages designed for a specific limb or part of the body. The location of the wound determines the type used.[2] Bandages can often be improvised as the situation demands, using clothing, blankets or other material. In American English, the word bandage is often used to indicate a small gauze dressing attached to an adhesive bandage.

Types

Gauze bandage

A strip of woven gauze bandage; note the lacking of gauze in some spots of the bandage

The most common type of bandage is the gauze bandage, a woven strip of material. A gauze bandage can come in any number of widths and lengths and can be used for almost any bandage application, including holding a dressing in place.

Adhesive bandage

Adhesive bandages are good for protecting wounds on hands, especially on fingers.

Liquid bandage

Compression bandage

Compression bandages, or elastic bandages, refers to a wide variety of bandages with many different applications such as with kinesio tape used in sports medicine.[3]

  • Short stretch compression bandages are applied to a limb (usually for treatment of lymphedema or venous ulcers).[4] This type of bandage is capable of shortening around the limb after application and is therefore not exerting ever-increasing pressure during inactivity. This dynamic is called resting pressure and is considered safe and comfortable for long-term treatment. Conversely, the stability of the bandage creates a very high resistance to stretch when pressure is applied through internal muscle contraction and joint movement. This force is called working pressure.
  • Long stretch compression bandages have long stretch properties, meaning that their high compressive power can be easily adjusted. However, they also have a very high resting pressure and must be removed at night or if the patient is in a resting position.[5]

Triangular bandage

Also known as a cravat bandage, a triangular bandage is a piece of cloth put into a right-angled triangle, and often provided with safety pins to secure it in place. It can be used fully unrolled as a sling, folded as a normal bandage, or for specialized applications, such as on the head. One advantage of this type of bandage is that it can be makeshift and made from a fabric scrap or a piece of clothing. The Scouting movement popularized the use of this bandage in many of their first aid lessons, as a part of the uniform is a neckerchief which can easily be folded to form a cravat.

Tube bandage

A tube bandage is applied using an applicator, and is woven in a continuous circle. It is used to hold dressings or splints on to limbs, or to provide support to sprains and strains, so that it stops bleeding.

Kirigami bandage

A new type of bandage was invented in 2016; inspired by the art of kirigami, it uses parallel slits to better fit areas of the body that bend. The bandages have been produced with 3D-printed molds.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Law, Jonathan; Martin, Elizabeth, eds. (2020). Oxford Concise Medical Dictionary (10 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191873768.
  2. 1 2 Miller, Gabriella M.; Abraham, Michael K. (March 7, 2025). "Pitfalls of Wound Management". In Goyal, Deepi G.; Mattu, Amal (eds.). Urgent Care Emergencies: Avoiding the Pitfalls and Improving the Outcomes (2 ed.). Wiley. pp. 61–67. doi:10.1002/9781394205714.ch6. ISBN 978-1-394-20568-4. Retrieved Aug 10, 2026.
  3. ↑ Biz, Carlo; Nicoletti, Pietro; Tomasin, Matteo; Bragazzi, Nicola Luigi; Di Rubbo, Giuseppe; Ruggieri, Pietro (April 29, 2022). "Is Kinesio Taping Effective for Sport Performance and Ankle Function of Athletes with Chronic Ankle Instability (CAI)? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis". Medicina. 58 (5): 620. doi:10.3390/medicina58050620. ISSN 1648-9144. PMC 9146435. PMID 35630037.
  4. ↑ Berszakiewicz, Andrzej; Sieroń, Aleksander; Krasiński, Zbigniew; Cholewka, Armand; Stanek, Agata. "Compression therapy in venous diseases: current forms of compression materials and techniques". Postepy Dermatologii I Alergologii. 37 (6): 836–841. doi:10.5114/ada.2019.86991. ISSN 1642-395X. PMC 7874882. PMID 33603599.
  5. ↑ "Dauerbinde® K Long Stretch Bandage". www.performancehealth.com. Retrieved 2025-12-28.
  6. ↑ "Paper-folding art inspires better bandages". MIT News Office. 27 March 2018.

Notes

This article is a direct transclusion of article and therefore may not meet the same editing standards as LIMSwiki.

Retrieved from "https://www.limswiki.org/index.php?title=Bandage&oldid=24949"