Bandage

[ban’-ddj) [Fr., bande, a strip]. Bandages are usually strips of muslin or other material, of varying widths and lengths, used in surgery for the purpose of protecting, compre ing, etc., a part, or for the retention of dre ings and applications. A simple bandage or roller consists of one piece; a coi7ipound, of two or more pieces. Starch, plaster-of- Paris, silica, dextrin, tripolith, etc., etc., are used for making stiff and immovable dre ings or bandages. According to their direction bandages are cla ed as: I. Circular, circular turns about the part. 2. Figure of-8, the turns cro ing each other like the figure 8. 3. Oblique, covering the part by oblique turns. 4. Recurrent, the turns returning succe ively to the point of origin. 5. Spica, the turns resembling the arrangement of the husks of an ear of corn. 6. Spiral, each turn covering one-half of the preceding. 7. Spiral reverse, the bandage is reversed in order better to adapt it to the part. Bandages are also cla ed according to the part to which they are applied. B., Genga’s. See B., Theden’s. B., Heliodor us’s, the T-bandage. B., Hueter’s, a spica bandage for the perineum. B., Langier’s, a many tailed paper bandage. B., Larrey’s, a form of many-tailed bandage, the edges being glued together. B., Maisonneuve’s, a variety of pi aster of- Paris bandage, formed from cloths folded, these being supported by other bandages. B., Recurrent, is used after amputations, to support the flaps of the stump. B., Richet’s, a form of plaster of-Paris bandage to which a small amount of gelatin has been added. B. of Scultetus, a compound bandage, similar to a spiral reverse in appearance and action, used in compound fractures, so that the short pieces of which it is composed may be removed without motion of the limb. T. -Bandages bandages shaped like the letter T. B., Theden’s, a form, of roller bandage applied from below upward over a graduated compre , to control hemorrhage from a limb. (For a more complete description of bandages, with illustrations, see Gould’s Illustrated Dictionary.*) 137