FR2745986A1 - Garment for protecting predetermined zones of patient's body from bed sores - Google Patents

Abstract

The garment (100) is designed to cover given zones (110-113) of the patient's body, and comprises a supporting layer (101) of a textile or similar material, designed to be worn permanently by the patient, and inner areas of a very supple gel material which are in direct contact with the skin. The garment can have a number of areas of gel material or a single large area to cover all the zones to be protected. The gel material is based on styrene-ethylene / butylene-styrene copolymer blocks in a light mineral oil, and is between 2 and 50 mm thick, and preferably 15 mm. The garment can be in the form of short pants, a vest or waistcoat, or a heel support.

Description

 The present invention relates to a device for medical use intended to protect predetermined areas of the body of a patient against bedsores.

 Pressure ulcers, and especially pressure sores, are cutaneous necrosis of ischemic origin, most often consecutive to a patient's prolonged decubitus, localized at the support points (heels, sacral region in particular), due to pressure continuous bony projection against a hard surface, and possibly maceration in the urine or faeces.

 Anti-decubitus mattresses on which the patient is lying have already been used for several years, such mattresses being for example filled with water, or with inflatable zones, or covered with a soft mattress pad. Such mattresses are heavy organs, and in practice their use is limited to a hospital environment.

 Lighter devices are also known which have been designed to tend to avoid the formation of pressure sores by the support of a part of the body, these devices being generally produced in the form of a cushion or a rod 'support. Devices have thus been proposed including a mass of gel for medical use wrapped in a protective textile cover. However, in addition to the weight of such devices (as a guide, a square cushion of about 30 cm side has a weight of the order of 10 to 15 kg), the presence of the cover made of textile material does not allow avoid a "soaping" effect, that is to say a sliding of the skin on the bone end concerned, which is particularly harmful for the elderly in particular. In addition, all cushion systems or support tubes are de facto limited to support limited to predetermined areas of the patient's body. In use, such cushions or support elements have proved to be insufficient for the prevention of bedsores, all the more so since the textile cover was thick (the damping effect being reduced or even eliminated) .

 Regarding the treatment of pressure sores, the techniques used are limited for the moment to surgical techniques or the use of specific dressings. However, it is recognized that these techniques do not exclude phenomena of recurrence, so that the effectiveness is still imperfect.

 The invention specifically aims to solve this problem, by designing an anti-decubitus device which does not have the aforementioned drawbacks and limitations.

 The object of the invention is therefore to design a device for medical use intended to protect predetermined areas of a patient's body against bedsores, this device having to be both effective and convenient to use. In addition, the device sought must be able to participate not only in the prevention of bedsores, but also in their treatment.

 The invention thus relates to a device for medical use intended to protect predetermined areas of the body of a patient against bedsores, characterized in that it is produced in the form of a garment arranged to wrap the predetermined areas at protect, said garment comprising a textile or similar support layer shaped to allow permanent wear by the patient, and, at least at each of the areas to be protected, at least one very flexible gel piece which is secured to the support layer.

 According to a particular embodiment, the or each piece of gel is arranged on the internal face of the garment, so as to be in direct contact with the patient's skin. As a variant, provision may be made for the or each piece of gel to be arranged on the external face of the garment, so that the support layer of textile or the like is in direct contact with the patient's skin.

 The garment may comprise a single unitary piece of very flexible gel, the cutout of which is then adapted to simultaneously cover all the areas to be protected, or alternatively comprise a plurality of pieces of very flexible gel, the cutout of which is adapted to cover one or more areas to protect.

 The or each piece of gel can be secured to the support layer by detachable fixing means, in particular self-gripping means.

 As a variant, the or each piece of gel is permanently attached to the support layer, in part to bond by gluing or by hot application.

 Provision may also be made for the material constituting the support layer and / or the very flexible gel constituting the or each piece of gel to be chosen so that a certain compression is exerted on the patient's body when the garment is worn. . This will allow in certain delicate cases to fight effectively against the aforementioned soaping effect.

 In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the or each piece of gel is produced from a flexible gel based on block copolymers of styrene-ethylene / butylenestyrene in a light mineral oil, and this piece has a thickness of between 2 mm and 50 mm, and preferably around 15 mm.

 As a preferred example, the garment may be short pants, a jacket or waistcoat, or a heel piece.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly in the light of the description which follows and of the appended drawings, relating to a particular embodiment, with reference to the figures where
- Figure 1 illustrates an anti-decubitus device according to the invention, produced in the form of short pants, as worn by a patient, being seen from the back in order to better distinguish the predetermined areas to be protected
- Figure 2 shows the same device in front view;
- Figure 3 illustrates in section the two-layer arrangement of the above-mentioned device, the very flexible gel part of which is here arranged on the internal face of the garment
- Figure 4 illustrates a variant of the previous device, in which the garment does not include a unitary piece but a plurality of pieces of very flexible gel
- Figure 5 illustrates another device produced in the form of a vest, and the garment of which comprises a unitary piece simultaneously covering the different areas of the back to be protected
- Figure 6 illustrates another variant of the device, produced in the form of a heel piece.

 FIG. 1 illustrates a device for medical use intended to protect predetermined areas of the body of a patient against bedsores, as it is worn by a patient. This device is produced in the form of a garment 100, here short pants, which is arranged to wrap the predetermined areas to be protected. The garment 100 comprises a support layer 101 of textile or the like shaped to allow permanent wear by the patient, and, at least at each of the zones to be protected, a piece 102 of very flexible gel which is secured to the layer of support 101.

 The predetermined areas of the patient's body whose protection is sought relate essentially to the sacral region and the hips. There are thus successively the areas of ischium 110, the area of the sacrum 111, the two areas 112 of posterior superior iliac spine, and for the hips the two areas 113 of the greater trochanter. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the garment 100 comprises a single unitary piece of very flexible gel, the cutting of which is then adapted to simultaneously cover all the areas to be protected 110 to 113. This unitary piece thus envelops the buttocks and the patient's hips, to end at an abdominal area, as illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 also shows a closure 103 facilitating the fitting or removing of the device 100, the garment of which 101 also has a crotch cutout 104 on the front side.

Although this is not compulsory, the gel piece 102 is here arranged on the internal face of the garment 100, so as to be in direct contact with the patient's skin.
In this case, the gel piece is then presented as a real garment lining. The very flexible gel will then tend to remain intimately in contact with the skin, and thus counteract any soaping effect. Of course, the great flexibility of the gel fully ensures the function of limiting support on a hard surface, and this for all positions of the body.

 Alternatively, provision could be made, on the contrary, to arrange the gel piece on the external face of the garment, so that the support layer of textile or the like is in direct contact with the patient's skin.

 The gel piece 102 can be permanently attached to the support layer 101 in a permanent manner, use will then be made of bonding or hot application.

However, in the case of a gel piece of large dimensions, it may prove advantageous to provide for a joining of the gel piece provided by detachable fixing means. It will then be advantageous to use hook-and-loop means, and it has been illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 the use of four strips denoted 10 by such hook-and-loop means (each strip 10 will be formed of two complementary strips, the one will be fixed on the internal face of the support layer 101, and the other on the external face of the gel piece 102). Such a detachable connection avoids any undesirable displacement of the gel piece relative to the support layer, and makes it possible to replace the gel plate while retaining the same support layer, which can be particularly advantageous when the prevention and treatment of bedsores are limited to only some of the above areas.

 The section of FIG. 3 illustrates the two-layer arrangement of the device, with the support layer 101 and, on the internal side of the latter, the very flexible gel part 102 secured to the support layer 101. We have noted e l thickness of the gel piece 102, this thickness generally being between 2 mm and 50 mm. With a preferred material, the composition of which will be detailed below, that is to say a flexible non-adhesive gel based on block copolymers of styrene-ethylene / butylene-styrene in a light mineral oil, the thickness of the piece of gel 102 will preferably be close to 15 mm. It is interesting to note that a device is then obtained whose weight remains very acceptable: for information, a device as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 will have a weight of the order of only three kilos. Of course, the profile of the gel piece will be optimized to limit the weight without altering the anti-decubitus therapeutic action, while of course being adapted to the patient's morphology.

 In certain cases, provision may be made for the material constituting the support layer and / or the very flexible gel to be chosen so that a certain compression is exerted on the patient's body when the garment is worn. This then makes it possible to fight even better against the soaping effect that one wants to avoid.

 The device illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 thus provides a very effective anti-decubitus action, both in the lying position and in the sitting position.

 FIG. 4 illustrates a variant of the previous device according to which a unitary piece of very flexible gel is no longer used, but a plurality of pieces, the cutting of which is adapted to cover one or more of the areas to be protected. By way of example, FIG. 4 illustrates a set of five pieces 102 of very flexible gel, with one piece for each ischion zone 110, one piece for each greater trochanter area 113, and a piece covering both the sacrum zone 111 and the two postero-superior iliac spine zones 112. This last part then has an essentially triangular shape. It goes without saying that this could be replaced by two or three separate parts associated with each of the zones to be protected 111, 112.

 It is easy to understand that all combinations of parts covering one or more areas to be protected could be envisaged in the context of the invention.

 With regard to the joining of such parts, it is preferred to permanent joining by gluing or by hot application insofar as these parts are small.

 FIG. 5 illustrates another variant of the invention, in which the device is produced in the form of a garment 200 which is a vest, this garment comprising a support layer 201 of textile or the like, shaped to allow permanent wearing by the patient, and, at the level of the areas to be protected, at least one piece 202 of very flexible gel which is secured to the support layer 201. In this case, the areas to be protected are essentially the areas 210 of the shoulder blades, and the area 211 of curvature corresponding to the first cervical vertebra.

 Illustrated in FIG. 5 by way of example is a piece 202 of very flexible gel which is shaped as a square so as to simultaneously cover the three zones 210, 211. It will naturally be possible, as a variant, to provide three separate pieces individually covering each of these zones. The constituent material and the method of attachment do not otherwise differ from what has been said for the short pants described above. It goes without saying that it may also be a jacket, and in particular a jacket whose sleeves will be fitted at the elbows with a very flexible gel piece providing the same anti-decubitus action (variant not shown here).

 FIG. 6 illustrates yet another variant of the device according to the invention, in which the garment 300 is a heel piece. This heel has a support layer 301 of textile or the like shaped to allow permanent wear by the patient, and, at the area to be protected which is denoted 310, a piece 302 of very flexible gel which is secured to the layer of support 301.

 It goes without saying that any other type of clothing incorporating the general definition of the two-layer structure given above must be considered to be part of the invention. We can for example consider elbow pads or knee pads.

The piece or pieces of very flexible gel fitted to the device of the invention may be produced from any gel of polymer type (silicone for example) or non-polymer, having the desired flexibility characteristics. This or these parts will preferably be made from a thermoplastic elastomer based on styrene-ethylene / butylene-styrene block copolymers, in a light mineral oil. By way of example, a very flexible gel of the type which is marketed under the name Kraton G by the company may be used.
SHELL CHEMISTRY (KRATON is a registered trademark of the company
SHELL), and more specifically by choosing from these thermoplastic elastomers gels sold under the name Kraton G 1650, 1651, 1652, 1654, or equivalent. These are linear triblock styrene-ethylene / butylene-styrene copolymers in which the styrene is present in a proportion of approximately 30 to 35 W by weight. The light mineral oil serving as a solvent for such copolymers may be a naphthic oil, or even a paraffinic oil such as the oil sold by the company SHELL under the trademark ONDINA 15 (trademark registered by the company SHELL). Preferably, a gel of the above-mentioned type KRATON G 1654 will be used in a proportion of 9% by weight, and a paraffinic oil of the aforementioned type in a proportion of 91 W by weight.

 It should be noted that the aforementioned gels are chosen for their great flexibility, in order to form an optimal passive damper. In particular, they have nothing to do with gels based on styreneethylene / butylene-styrene block copolymers which are used for the treatment of scar hypertrophies, these gels then being on the contrary of firm consistency in order to exert the desired therapeutic action. The gels used here for the prevention and treatment of pressure sores would indeed be far too fragile to treat scar enlargements.

 The invention is not limited to the embodiments which have just been described, but on the contrary encompasses any variant incorporating, with equivalent means, the essential characteristics set out above.

Claims (12)

 1. Device for medical use intended to protect predetermined areas of the body of a patient against bedsores1 characterized in that it is produced in the form of a garment (100; 200; 300) arranged to wrap the predetermined areas at protect (110 to 113; 210, 211 310), said garment comprising a support layer (101; 201; 301) of textile or the like shaped to allow permanent wear by the patient, and, at least at each of the zones to protect, at least one part (102, 102 '; 202; 302) in very flexible gel which is secured to the support layer (101; 201; 301).  2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the or each piece of gel (102, 102 '; 202, 302) is arranged on the internal face of the garment (100; 200; 300), to be in contact direct from the patient's skin.  3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the or each gel piece (102, 102 '; 202; 302) is arranged on the external face of the garment (100 200; 300), so that the support layer (101; 201; 301) of textile or the like either in direct contact with the patient's skin.  4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the garment (100; 200; 300) comprises a single piece of very flexible gel (102; 202; 302) whose cut is adapted to cover simultaneously all areas to be protected.  5. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the garment (100) comprises a plurality of pieces of very flexible gel (102 ') whose cut is adapted to cover one or more of the areas to be protected.  6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the or each piece of gel (102, 102 '; 202; 302) is secured to the support layer (101; 201; 301) by means detachable fixing means (10), in particular hook-and-loop means.  7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the or each gel piece (102, 102 '; 202; 302) is permanently attached to the support layer (101; 201; 301) , in particular by gluing or by hot application.  8. Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the material constituting the support layer (101; 201; 3013 and / or the very flexible gel constituting the or each piece of gel (102, 102; 202; 302) is chosen so that a certain compression is exerted on the patient's body when the garment is worn.  9. Device according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the or each gel piece (102, 102 '; 202; 302) is made from a flexible gel based on styrene-ethylene / butylene block copolymers -styrene in a light mineral oil, and this part has a thickness of between 2 mm and 50 mm, and preferably close to 15 mm.  10. Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the garment (100) is short pants.  11. Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the garment (200) is a jacket or a vest.  12. Device according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the garment (300) is a heel piece.