Tape Blisters Following Hip Surgery: Can They Be Eliminated Completely?

It was recently reported that use of a perforated, stretchable cloth tape instead of silk tape reduced the incidence of postoperative blisters around the hip from 41% to 10%. The present prospective randomized study was conducted to determine whether use of spica bandage (vs the cloth tape) could further reduce or eliminate the incidence of these blisters. Patients were randomized to 2 treatment groups: perforated, stretchable cloth tape (Hypafix^®; Smith & Nephew, Memphis, Tenn) and elastic spica bandage that was started at the lower thigh and was extended around the hip and abdomen. After surgery, cloth tape or spica bandage was applied over the postoperative dressing, with care taken not to produce skin tension. At the first dressing change, presence or absence of blisters was recorded, along with their number, size, location, and type. All subsequent dressing changes were done much as they were at surgery, using the assigned type of dressing. Presence or absence of blisters was recorded at each subsequent dressing change. Two hundred ninety-four patients (300 hips) were enrolled. Twenty-two (7.33%) of the 300 hips developed a blister. Risk for developing a blister was 10% with the cloth tape versus 4.67% with the spica bandage (P<.09). Surgery type (arthroplasty vs open reduction and internal fixation [ORIF], P<.03) and surgery duration (P<.05) had more of an effect on postoperative blister formation than dressing type.