WO2010070688A1

WO2010070688A1 - Device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by direct or indirect accidents

Info

Publication number: WO2010070688A1
Application number: PCT/IT2008/000773
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mario Brozzi
Original assignee: Sport Lab S.R.L.
Priority date: 2008-12-18
Filing date: 2008-12-18
Publication date: 2010-06-24

Abstract

This invention relates to a device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by direct or indirect accidents, which essentially comprises a compressive bandage fastened around the injured body part, which bandage features one or more pockets inside which can be placed concave discs, of suitable sizes, arranged in such a manner that the concave tip of the disc presses against the injured area.

Description

Device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by direct or indirect accidents .

Background of the invention

Acute muscle injury is the most frequent type of trauma sustained in sport, accounting for between 19 and 37% of all (direct or indirect) accidents.

Injuries from direct trauma are generally due to an external factor, as a result of which the quantity of injured muscle fibre is directly proportional to the intensity of the trauma and inversely proportional to the degree of contraction of the muscle at the time of the incident. When muscles are relaxed, in fact, the intensity of the pressure wave arriving deep within the muscle and skeleton is greater. Generally speaking, the fibres that receive the most damage are the deepest ones next to the bone; it ensues that the consequent bleeding is not visible on the surface and it frequently occurs that certain deep-seated contusions are undervalued, with consequent terrible vascular complications.

Symptoms can range from localised pain to swelling, followed several days after by the appearance of a bruise, which can eventually become a large haematoma, with consequent functional limitations. Currently, first aid consists in resting the injured limb and applying compressive bandaging and ice, in an attempt to stem bleeding. Later, depending on the seriousness of the injury, it might be expedient to perform an ultrasonography to help paint a clearer picture of the patient's clinical condition and, if necessary, an MR scan if the US is negative but the symptoms persist. The pain that appears after muscle injury is caused by the stimulation of certain receptors called 'nociceptors', which are present inside the muscle and are activated by stimuli of a mechanical and chemical nature; the former are energically activated by the rupture of the tissue, which produces a feeling of pain at the point of the injury; in the latter case, instead, the nociceptors are stimulated by inflammation and, precisely, bleeding, which eventually soaks the surrounding tissue and is the reason for the extension of the pain from the seat of the injury proper to an area which, at times, can be much larger. The bandaging currently used in these cases hardly ever helps stop the bleeding and the spreading of the blood into the tissue surrounding the injury, with the known and easily imaginable consequences. Such consequences may be essentially summarised in the inability to harness at least the bleeding due to the rupture of the vessels, as a result of the rupture of the connective stromal structure of the muscle and the production of bruising, which sometimes may be so widespread as to require surgical drainage, with all the problems this may entail, including infections, if the standards of accuracy are not complied with, besides the succession of wound fibroses that may occur if the haematoma is not entirely absorbed.

Description of the invention

This invention relates to a device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by accidents.

The preferred embodiment of this invention essentially consists of a compressive bandage placed around the injured body part, which bandage is provided with one or more pockets for housing a concave disc, of adequate size, arranged in such a position that the concave tip of the disc presses against the area affected by the muscle injury.

The disc may be made of any opportune material, in various sizes and with different curvatures, and may also be fitted with internal devices capable of cooling it, for the purpose of combining compression and a cryotherapy effect.

The disc may also be coated with a permeable material - such as a sponge or similar material - previously saturated with a drug or medication, such as, for example, an anti -inflammatory drug. In another embodiment of the invention, the surface of the disc may be covered with blisters, containing a medication and designed to break open when a certain compression is applied and thus release the medication into the bandage and from there onto the injured body part.

Description of the drawings The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings: Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 shows a layout of the interior of the device. Figure 3 shows a layout of the exterior of the device. Figure 4 shows a layout of the disc.

Figure 5 shows a side view of the disc.

Figs. 6 and 7 show a cross-section of an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring to the above figures the device according to a preferred embodiment of this invention comprises a compressive bandage (1), made of any material normally used for medical bandages, provided with a velcro strip at both ends (2), or similar fastening appliance, for fastening the bandage after regulating its length and the required compression, depending on the injured limb; a certain number of pockets (3,4,5) of different sizes, according to the diameter of the disc to be fitted inside, which pockets (3,4,5) are superimposed and preferably located in the middle section of the bandage (1); a certain number of discs (6) of different sizes with a semi-circular cross-section. Before wrapping the bandage around the injured limb, a disc (6) is introduced inside the right-sized pocket (3,4,5), with the concave tip (7) pressing against the injured area; the bandage is then wrapped around the injury making sure that the concave tip (7) of the disc (6) is precisely on the injury; the bandage (1) is then tightened around the limb and fastened by means of the velcro strips (2), or similar fastening appliance, making sure that the injured area is compressed by the concave tip (7) of the disc (6); the bandage is then left on the injured limb for the time deemed necessary by the physician to stem internal bleeding right from the start.

As mentioned previously, the disc (6) may be divided internally into two areas, by means of a cross-wise or longitudinal collapsible membrane (8), each one of which can be filled with a liquid and/or gas, so that when the membrane (8) is broken, by means of mechanical action, the two substances can mix and cause the disc (6) to immediately cool, as a result of which the compression is combined with a cryotherapy effect. In order to increase the compression of the bandage (1) and, consequently, of the disc (6), the bandage may be provided with a cavity inflatable by means of a manual pump, with a deflating valve at the fitting on the side of the bandage. The surface of the disc (6) may be made of a permeable material - such as sponge or similar material - which can be saturated with a medication, such as an anti-inflammatory drug, before being placed into the pocket (3,4,5). In another embodiment of this invention, the surface of the disc (6) can be may be covered with blisters containing a medication and designed to break open when a certain compression is applied, to release the medication into the bandage (1) and onto the injured body part

In order to improve the stability of the disc (6) inside the pockets (3,4,5) these may be closed by means of velcro strips, or similar fastening appliances. For a better understanding of the scope and usefulness of this invention, following is an account of its application on a football player who had sustained a muscle injury during a championship match. While striking the ball the player had felt a violent pain in the rectus femoris muscle of the thigh, as a result of which he had dropped to the ground; it was immediately obvious that the player was seriously injured and that he has sustained a 3rd degree muscle injury, the expected recovery time for which is generally 10-12 weeks; the injury was visible to the naked eye, as a 2 cm long depression of the tegumental surface, accompanied by sharp pain and the functional impotence typical of a dramatic reflex contraction, which occurs to protect the muscle in the case of elongation-lesion and which had already been described in ancient times by Celsus and Galenus, in terms of "rubor, calor, dolor, tumor, functio lesa".

The compressive bandage described herein was immediately applied, for the purpose of at least stemming the internal bleeding, consequent to the rupture of the vessels, which occurs when a muscle is injured. The compressive bandage was only temporarily removed the following day, during the medical examination, which included a clinical exam and an ultrasound scan, which did not highlight any lesion of the muscle lesion, consistently with the patients words, who was very surprised by the limited pain he had felt, compared to what he had expected based on the previous day's experience. The bandage was then immediately reapplied for a further 24 hours.

In the following days the 3rd degree injury substantiated itself as a muscle injury, but with no signs whatsoever of bleeding, and after only 23 days the player was once again on the pitch, playing in a match against Norway, in terrible weather conditions, with a record recovery, compared to the 10-12 weeks which would otherwise have been the case, in normal conditions; but above all the injury had healed, in medical terms, with absolute "restitutio ad integrum", i.e. without any a posteriori signs of the injury, not even with an MR scan, which can pick up even the smallest of scar, and, therefore, with none of the consequences that scars can produce inside a muscle, primarily consisting of the formation of inelastic areas subject to elongation and, therefore, to diminished resistence, as well as subsequent and increasingly serious relapses. Any remaining doubts can be dispelled by the following explanation: considering that immediate compression, through the device described herein, prevents bleeding from occuring inside the muscle, from the moment it is applied, it is easy to understand how the absence of a haematoma - which would form if the compression were delayed - results in, (i) the non release of the substances that trigger the stimulation of the nociceptors, with a considerable reduction of the feeling of pain, and, above all, (ii) keeping the edges of the lesion attached and, therefore, more easily sealable by the cells (fibrolasts), in an amount of time, and especially with a cicatricial quality, previously unheard of and absolutely innovatory.

Claims

1. A device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by accidents which comprises: a compressive bandage (1), made of any material normally used for medical bandages provided with a velcro strip at both ends (2), or similar fastening appliance, for fastening the bandage after regulating the length thereof and the required compression, based on the injured limb; a certain number of pockets (3,4,5) of different sizes and corresponding to the diameter of the disc (6) to be introduced inside them, which pockets (3,4,5) are superimposed and preferably located in the middle section of the bandage (1); a certain number of discs (6) of different sizes, fitting inside each of the pockets (3,4,5), which discs feature a semi-circular cross-section, or in any case a convex outer face, with only one disc placed inside the pocket at any one time.

2. A device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by accidents according to claim 1 characterized in that the disc (6) is divided internally into two areas, by means of a cross-wise or longitudinal collapsible membrane (8), each one of which can be filled with a liquid and/or gas, so that when the membrane (8) is broken, by mechanical action, the two substances can mix and cause the disc to immediately cool.

3. A device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by accidents according to claim 1 characterized in that the bandage (1) is provided with a cavity inflatable by means of a manual pump connected to the fitting (9) on the side of the bandage, which cavity is suited to increasing the bandage's compression effect.

4. A device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by accidents according to claim 1 characterized in that the pockets (3,4,5) are fastened by means of velcro strips, to prevent the disc (6) from falling out.

5. A device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by accidents according to claim 1 characterized in that the disc (6) features a curvature best suited to the therapeutic purpose.

6. A device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by accidents according to claim 1 characterized in that the surface of the disc (6) is made with a permeable material - such as sponge - which can then be saturated with a medication, such as an anti-inflammatory drug, before being placed into the pocket (3,4,5).

7. A device suited to contrasting the consequences of muscle injuries caused by accidents according to claim 1 characterized in that the surface of the disc (6) is covered with blisters containing a medication and designed to break open when a certain compression is applied to the bandage, to release the medication into the bandage (1) and onto the injured body part.