Benefits of inelastic and short-stretch bandages in leg ulcer: a narrative review

What is it about?

Compression therapy (CT) in venous leg ulcer (VLU) treatment has been further investigated, obtaining such favourable results – by improving chronic venous hypertension and enhancing other positive effects in its pathophysiology – that it is currently the cornerstone of its treatment. However, leg ulcers (LU) of non-venous aetiology can also benefit from CT. To date, current contraindications for CT are minimal. Despite these benefits, only 50 - 60% of these patients receive CT as part of their treatment, resulting in lower healing rates than expected. Inelastic bandages (IB) and short-stretch bandage (SSB) have multiple benefits in LU and VLU treatment as they provide low resting pressures and high working pressures >60mmHg in standing and walking, improving venous haemodynamics. The aim of this narrative review was to describe the benefits of IB and SSB in the treatment of LU non venous etiology. We conducted a non-systematic review of literature guided by the Scale for the Quality Assessment of Narrative Articles (SANRA), regarding the benefits of IB and short-stretch bandage (SSB) CT systems in LU non venous etiology. IB are safety systems which can be useful in multiple LU aetiology, including chronic venous hypertension, diabetes, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and inflammatory diseases, reducing pain, time for wound healing, oedema, exudate, inflammatory process, and sanitary costs. IB and SSB have benefits that other elastic materials are often unable to achieve and, when their knowledge and training are well established, they have been shown to improve LU patient care.

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