The most popular medical products today are dressings. It is these items that are widely used to treat various kinds of wounds and burns, to maintain hygiene, and are also indispensable for surgical intervention.
Dressings include a variety of medical bandages, gauze, gauze pads, cotton wool, and plasters.
The great variety and versatility of these items put them in first place among the materials purchased by large medical centers and medical organizations. Such products must comply with established standards, which implies: a homogeneous structure, softness and strength, elasticity and hygroscopicity. Dressings should be chemically neutral, hypoallergenic and not lose all of these qualities during sterilization or interaction with various drugs. High-quality certified dressings contribute to the effective cleansing of wounds from contamination, their drying and protection from various negative external factors. Thanks to the use of such materials, the recovery period for injuries and injuries is significantly reduced.
All dressings are available in sterile and non-sterile forms. The sterile form provides for the use of individual packaging. Sterile materials are used during surgery, as well as in all treatment rooms. Both sterile and non-sterile items are aimed at achieving a therapeutic effect as soon as possible, as well as fixing the damaged area. Consider the most common of these tools in a little more detail.
medical bandage
Medical bandage is a gauze strip of various widths and lengths. They are used to fix a bandage on a damaged area, to dress wounds, and also for some household purposes, for example, for binding books. Such items have excellent moisture absorption, which makes them an ideal tool for use in surgery, as well as in burn medicine.
They are used for varicose veins, for dislocations, sprains and bruises, for increased swelling, for injuries of varying severity, as well as for thrombophlebitis and other severe complications.
In everyday life, a medical bandage is used to weave various household items and books.
In addition to gauze, there are also elastic bandages that are most suitable for applying tight bandages for sprains and dislocations, as well as for vein diseases. Other types of bandages include:
- gauze ordinary;
- gauze sterile;
- plaster medical;
- elastic tubular;
- elastic mesh;
- sticky vapor permeable;
- sticky airtight;
- tubular knitted;
- tubular dense;
- tubular mesh;
- cotton fixings.
Bandages of low extensibility are used for thrombophlebitis of superficial veins, as well as for chronic venous insufficiency to achieve high pressure at rest.
In the operational and postoperative periods in the process of rehabilitation and recovery, bandages of an average degree of extensibility are used. They can also be used to treat venous insufficiency and thrombophlebitis.
Items of high extensibility create the strongest pressure of all of the above, so they are used in the postoperative period to prevent the occurrence of bleeding and possible hematomas, as well as for those bedridden patients.
To ensure an effective compression regimen, dressings with a medium and low degree of extensibility are most suitable.
A fixing compression bandage is applied to the patient in the supine position with a raised limb. When a bandage is applied, the tips of the toes turn blue at rest, but when the movement is started, they immediately restore their color. Usually after this, the patient needs to take a walk for twenty to thirty minutes to exclude the appearance of a possible pain syndrome.
Currently, more and more modern dressings are being developed. So there is the latest development of Russian scientists, which is a bandage consisting of a fibrous structure with nanofibers of aluminum oxide hydroxide. Such nanofibers have good absorbing properties and also contain positive charges in their composition. In addition, a minimum proportion of silver is added to such an item to enhance the antiseptic properties of the dressing. Thus, it turns out that a very large part of the microorganisms located on the surface of the wound, almost 99,9 percent, are retained in the bandage and do not get inside.
medical gauze
Medical gauze is a mesh-like sparse cotton fabric. Due to the special weave of the threads, such an item has sufficient strength with minimal density and weight. The very word “gauze” in French means “muslin”. And the name of the dressing material was given by the city in France – Marly-le-Roi, where a factory for the production of such a fabric first appeared.
Quality gauze must meet all established standards, namely:
- be of high strength so that it can be used to apply fixing bandages;
- be moisture absorbent;
- do not split into small threads, which, if they enter the wound, can cause an infectious-inflammatory process.
In medical practice, both sterile and non-sterile gauze is used. It is often used to make napkins, bandages or dressing bags.
In the home first aid kit, such an item is also quite important. It can and should be used for bleeding and various kinds of injuries. Often it is cut into bandages or napkins, used to make therapeutic compresses and pressure compression bandages.
At home, gauze has also gained popularity. It is used for culinary purposes: for straining various liquids, for making cottage cheese. Also often such a dressing is used to care for young children and newborns.
In addition, any dressings, both gauze and bandages, are impregnated with various medicinal components that contribute to a better achievement of the therapeutic effect:
- suppression of pathogenic microflora;
- local anesthesia;
- sorbent or hemostatic action;
- drainage of early exudate;
- removal of inflammatory processes;
- elimination of puffiness;
- speeding up the healing process.
Summing up
Dressings, such as medical bandages and gauze, are an integral part of almost every field of medicine. They are indispensable during surgical operations, and in the treatment of burns and wounds, and in venous insufficiency. Due to their compression and healing properties, they significantly reduce the recovery period in case of injuries, and also effectively affect wound healing and prevent possible infections.