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April 2015 No. 34

Edema Control Instructions for Patients

Judy Colditz, OT/L, CHT, FAOTA

 

Postoperative patient instructions should be simple, provide focused information, and ideally be understood regardless of the native language of the patient. Verbal instructions often are forgotten or misunderstood. In our increasingly busy practices quality time with our patients is our most valuable resource and any means which helps us communicate clearly and efficiently is of value.

To both save time and increase the accuracy of communication, Dr. Alberto Lluch from the Institut Kaplan in Barcelona, Spain, created a drawing which simply but skillfully instructs patients on how to minimize edema and care for a post-operative dressing/cast. Best of all, the patient does not need to be able to read!

He submitted this drawing to the ASSH Correspondence Club Newsletter in 1984 and it is provided here with Dr. Lluch’s permission. HandLab is making this drawing available to you in a full page PDF format to use for your patients’ education. (See link below for full page patient instructions).

Download Printable Patient Edema Control Instructions

Additional Suggested Reading

What Do You See? No. 6 – High Pressure Injection Injury

Clinical Pearl No. 33 – How Can Each Therapy Visit be as Focused and Productive as Possible?

Clinical Pearl No. 14 – How Long Should I Serial Cast a Finger?

Clinical Pearl No. 9 – To Glove or Not to Glove; That is the Question

Clinical Pearl No. 2 – Pre-Operative Serial Casting for Dupuytren’s Contracture Involving the PIP Joint

Book Chapter - Therapist’s Management of the Stiff Hand, Rehabilitation of the Hand and Upper Extremity – 2011


Download Clinical Pearl No. 34, Edema Control Instructions for Patients, April 2015

© HandLab; 2015 all rights reserved

Disclaimer: HandLab Clinical Pearls are intended to be an informal sharing of practical clinical ideas; not formal evidence-based conclusions of fact.

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