The effectiveness of the elastic bandage in reducing residual limb volume in patients with lower limb amputation: literature review.
Introduction: Several banding techniques are available to contain and reduce the edema of the stump after an amputation of a limb, but there is also uncertainty on the most effective way to treat this problem.
Aims: The aim of this review is to compare the effectiveness of the elastic bandage, with other types of bandage, in reducing the stump's volume in patients with lower limb amputation.
Materials and methods: A literature review up to april 2011 was performed on Medline, Trip Database, Ovid, CINAHL and Pedro. The outcome measure was the reduction of edema and volume of the stump expressed as circumference and number of days elapsed between the operation and the prosthesis.
Results: Ten articles were retrieved: five randomized controlled trials, a comparative study, a multicentre retrospective study, a retrospective audit, a case control study and a systematic review of the literature. The volume reduction of the stump of patients treated with the elastic bandage require longer compared to a stump treated with removable or semi-rigid bandage even though the gain was significant only in the first two weeks.
Discussion: The semi rigid and semi-rigid removable dressing are more effective in the reduction of the edema of the stump compared to the elastic bandage, but only in the short to medium term. There are, however, conflicting results on their effectiveness in the long term period (>3 weeks).