Open AccessThe football: an intuitive dressing for offloading neuropathic plantar forefoot ulcerations
Author(s) -
Rader Andrew J,
Barry Timothy P
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international wound journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.867
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1742-481X
pISSN - 1742-4801
DOI - 10.1111/j.1742-481x.2007.00364.x
Subject(s) - medicine , forefoot , football , surgery , political science , law , complication
A reproducible, affordable, efficacious and safe modality for offloading neuropathic plantar foot ulcerations was previously presented in a pilot study. A follow‐up retrospective multicentre analysis of the football dressing is now presented. Wound healing rates are compared with published data on the total contact cast (TCC) and instant total contact cast (iTCC). Overall wound healing rates for University of Texas Health Science Center class 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A, 2B, 2C and 3B plantar forefoot ulcerations is 2·91 weeks with a 95% confidence interval of 2·36–3·47 weeks for complete wound epithelialisation. The cost associated with this dressing technique is a fraction of that associated with the TCC and iTCC. The ease of application coupled with reliable healing rates and affordable materials makes the football dressing a worthy partner against the sequelae of plantar forefoot ulcerations.