A novel technique to determine pressure in pressure garments for hypertrophic burn scars and comfort properties

Current recommendations state that pressure garments should be worn for up to 2 years for hypertrophic burn scars. Thermo-physiological properties of pressure garments were assessed by the thermo-physiological tests and a comparison of the fabric with a sportwool which is a single-jersey knitted fabric was performed. In this novel technique, it was aimed to determine the exact pressure of pressure garments on the applied body part. For the theoretical part of this study, the Laplace equation was used with an optimum pressure of 20 mmHg and a relationship between change in length versus circumference was calculated. To determine the change in length a ruler was prepared for each predetermined circumference value using this relationship. Grid printed fabric samples were prepared with an interval of 2 cm in width direction to be used for the calculation of mean pressure on a Mannequin Leg. The resultant mean pressure calculated experimentally on Mannequin Leg as 24 mmHg was compared to the optimum pressure of 20 mmHg. It was observed that the two values were not statistically significantly different. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.