Bandages and Bandaging

BANDAGES AND BANDAGING. A bandage is a strip or piece of woven material used to bind up wounds. Its general use is to retain dressings or splints in position ; to give support to a part of the body; and to exert pressure to stop or prevent bleeding. There are four kinds of bandages; the triangle, roller, four-tailed and many tailed. In medical usage each method of bandage application is given a distinctive name. For example, a roller bandage applied in spiral form to cover each finger and the hand is called a gauntlet.

The triangle is the most useful bandage for emergencies as it fulfils every need in bandaging; because it is easily made, is easy to apply, will stay on, will cover any part of the body, and little danger of injury to flesh or blood vessels results from its appli cation. The triangle bandage is usually made by cutting diag onally muslin or gauze 36 to 4oin. square. As an open triangle it is used as a sling for the arm, as a bandage to cover the head, the hand or the foot. It is folded to make various widths in order to adapt it best for use on the various parts of the body. When folded repeatedly it becomes the "cravat" bandage in which form it may be used for a sling, or to cover the palm of the hand, the eyes or the ears. When made of surgical gauze and kept sterile it is suitable to use directly on a wound the same as any surgical dressing, either with or without the addition of solu tions or ointments. The cotton or muslin bandage is stronger and therefore more suitable for the application of pressure or to give support.

Another common type of bandage is the roller bandage, from I to sin. or more in width, averaging Ioyds. in length, and rolled longitudinally. It is usually applied spirally. The material of this bandage is usually muslin, flannel, gauze or cheese-cloth, gauze or cheese-cloth being preferred for elasticity. The four tailed bandage, for which 5 to Bin. wide x 2 to 3f t. long is a representative size, is useful for injuries of tile lower jaw and head, elbow and knee. The many tailed bandage is an elaboration of the four tailed bandage and its uses are similar.

Bandaging.

Bandages applied to meet various needs and positions of the body are given special names by the medical profession, etc. Among them are : Esmarck's "figure-of-eight" bandage, in which the turns cross each other like a figure 8; the circular bandage applied to a part in circular turns; the gauntlet and demi-gauntlet hand bandages ; Desault's bandage for a frac tured clavicle; the oblique, pressure, suspensory, reversed, spiral and spiral reverse bandages; the T-bandage; the Spica, which is a spiral folded regularly on itself like the letter V for use at the junction of a limb to tiro body. Some bandages are made of special materials to meet specific needs, e.g., the roller bandage of crinoline filled with plaster of Paris or splints; starch, silica and dextrin bandages for stiff and immobile dressings; the india-rub ber bandage for flexible support as in varicose veins, and numer ous other highly specialized bandages.