An Innovative Compression System Providing Low, Sustained Resting Pressure and High, Efficient Working Pressure

Journal article, 2017

Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) can cause considerable morbidity and reduced quality of life. Compression therapy, such as bandages and stockings, is the cornerstone and golden standard in the prevention and treatment of CVI today. It is also shown that compression used after the healing of ulcers, reduces the rate of recurrence. It has been found that compression products with a stiff, non-elastic material, are essential for an improved haemodynamic effect, indicating that low resting pressure and high working pressure is vital, in order to achieve the most effective and well tolerated compression treatment. However, one great challenge is that by applying a stiff bandage, either as a single component or as a part in a multi-component product, one always adds, a not so easily quantified, resting pressure. In order to achieve the most effective treatment it is easy to apply the bandage in a too tight and uneven manner, often resulting in painful resting pressures. In earlier studies, it has been shown that common for todays practice is that the compression treatment is dependent on the applier and that only about 10% of the healthcare personnel managers to apply a pre-defined target bandage pressure. It has also been shown that the applied pressures decrease in effectiveness, only after a couple of hours, due to e.g. oedema reduction, resulting in poor compression treatment over time.