Retrospective Review of Self-Adhesive Elastic Wrapping in Patients With Facial Burns

The management of the burn-injured face poses unique challenges for therapy intervention. Standard compression techniques require an intimate fit and are traditionally implemented after wound closure when the patient has minimal or no dressings. Our center developed a method of self-adhesive facial wrapping that can be initiated early in care to provide custom contoured compression, decrease edema, and help maintain definition of facial features. The study aimed to characterize our experience with self-adhesive wrap in adult and pediatric patients with facial burn injuries. We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients treated with self-adhesive elastic facial wrapping at a single center between 2019 and 2023. Thirty patients were identified over this 5-year period who received self-adhesive elastic wrapping to the face. Mean age was 32.2 years, 57% of the subjects were male, median TBSA burned was 35%, and length of stay was 51 days. Self-adhesive wrap was initiated at a median of 18.5 days post-admission and was used for a median duration of 8.0 days. All patients with documented limitations in oral (n=3) or ocular (n=10) closure demonstrated improvements after wrap application. There was no significant association between the use of self-adhesive wrap use and skin breakdown (p=0.743) or graft loss (p=0.726) when the wrap was applied by therapists. No complications were identified that necessitated discontinuation of the intervention. This readily available technique may be implemented early in the course of care to provide compression when other typical options are not yet appropriate or may be cost-prohibitive.