ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

International Angiology 2010 October;29(5):431-5

Copyright © 2010 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Pascal’s law and the dynamics of compression therapy: a study on healthy volunteers

Schuren J., Mohr K. ✉

3M Deutschland GmbH, Infection Prevention and Skin and Wound Laboratory, Neuss, Germany

AIM: The aim of this paper was to determine whether Pascal’s law can be used to explain the dynamics of compression therapy.
METHODS: Sub-bandage pressures were recorded at three different levels to investigate the transmission of applied pressure on the legs of 12 healthy volunteers and 216 applications.
RESULTS: The experimental model revealed that when pressure is increased at a certain area in a compressed leg, the pressure is transmitted within the compressed area.
CONCLUSION: The dynamics of effective compression therapy are explained by Pascal’s Law, which states that when pressure is applied on a fluid (a muscle or muscle group) in a closed container (fascia muscularis and compression bandage), there is an equal increase at every other point in the container.