Therapeutic Efficacy and Factors Associated With Acceptance of a Newly Developed Compression Garment in Patients With Lower-Extremity Edema

Background The principle of edema treatment is compression therapy. We recently reported the development of a new compression garment designed to maintain a high pressure that is affected only to a small extent by changes in posture. In this study, we measured the pressure on this new product in patients with edema and conducted a questionnaire survey to assess its acceptability. Methods This is a retrospective observational study that uses existing data from healthy participants as a comparison. We investigated the effect of posture and movement on pressure when wearing the new product in six patients, compared the results with previous data from healthy participants, and statistically analyzed them. In addition, we administered a questionnaire survey on pressure, slipperiness, ease of wearing, and texture. Results Similar to the results in healthy participants, the effects of posture and movement were not observed in patients with edema. In contrast, the pressure was significantly lower than that in healthy individuals in the standing, dorsiflexion of the ankle joint, flexion of the toes, and tiptoe positions. The questionnaire suggested that there were issues with the ease of putting on and taking off and that there was a possibility of a discrepancy between the pressure actually measured and the pressure experienced by the participant. Conclusion In patients with edema, there are differences in the effects of posture and movement on the measured pressure compared to healthy individuals, which is thought to be due to excess extracellular fluid. However, the required pressure value was achieved, and this new garment could be a possible therapeutic approach with a higher therapeutic effect. The questionnaire results showed some cases in which there was a discrepancy between the patient's evaluation and the actual measurement values, suggesting the need for a quantitative and objective evaluation.