Pressure garments in the control of hypertrophic scarring and rehabilitation of the burn patient: an occupational therapy approach.

During the first 2 years of its existence, the Jobst Service of the Soroka Medical Center treated 150 patients, including 29 casualties of the Lebanon War, 1982, for postburn hypertrophic scarring. The Jobst pressure-gradient burn garments were successful in the control of hypertrophic scars, and in shortening the patient's rehabilitation time. The discussion stems from the perspective of the occupational therapist for treatment planning, paying special attention to the physical and psychosocial problems that confront the thermally injured patient, and to the need for total patient care.