Tie-overs under pressure

Dressings tied over skin grafts reduce the size of dead space, prevent haematoma formation, and immobilise the grafts [McCarthy, Plastic Surgery, 1990]. Their mechanism of action was thought to include the application of pressure to the bed and stabilisation of the graft and dressing. A quantitative analysis of the pressure exerted by these dressings has never been reported [Wolf at al., Ann Plast Surg 40 (1998) 149]. This study measures the pressure exerted by tie-over dressings at the graft-bed interface and finds that no significant pressure is exerted.