Surgical ward work and nursing : a handbook for nurses and others / by Alexander Miles.

Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Surgical ward work and nursing : a handbook for nurses and others / by Alexander Miles. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    SECTION III. BANDAGING. CHAPTER VII. PRINCIPLES OF BANDAGING. It is scarcely necessary to indicate in any but the briefest manner the numerous uses to which the bandage is put in surgery. All dressings and fomentations are fixed and re- tained in position by one or other form of bandage, and almost all splints, whether applied to control fractured bones, to ensure immobility of joints, or to correct deformities, are similarly secured. Bandages are oftenest used alone, but are sometimes impregnated with various substances, such as starch and plaster of Paris, to give rest or stability to different parts. As a means of preventing and of arrest- ing haemorrhage, and of influencing the size of certain forms of swelling, different varieties of bandage are of great value. Materials.—i. Linen, cotton, and calico form uselul, strong bandages, varying in strength and stiffness according to the quality and newness of the material. They are softest and lie best when made of old cloth which has been frequently washed. These bandages are not antiseptic. 2. Gauze.—This material is sometimes charged with some antiseptic agent such as carbolic acid or the double cyanide of mercury and zinc, and used as a bandage. 3. Doviette is a variety of soft, elastic flannel, and band- ages made of this material fit nicely to the part, and do not tend to slip, as stififer forms sometimes do. They may be rendered aseptic by dry sterilization, or antiseptic by being