CIRCAID LEGGING VS. COMPRESSION STOCKINGS PRESSURE COMPARISON
Directed by Alan R. Hargens, Ph.D., at UCSD Medical Center, this study compared skin surface pressures underneath the inelastic CircAid T-3 M garment with Built-In Pressure System set to 40mmHg vs. an elastic 30-40mmHg below-knee compression stocking. The CircAid T-3 M leggings produced significantly higher skin pressures than elastic leggings at both leg regions (p<.001). Mean pressures over all trials using the CircAid T-3 M leggings were 47±3 and 35±2 mmHg for ankle and below-knee regions, respectively. Mean pressures using the elastic leggings over all trials were 26±2 and 23±1mmHg for ankle and below-knee regions, respectively. Only the CircAid T-3 M leggings produced a significant reverse-pressure gradient between the knee and the ankle (p<.05), whereas the elastic leggings did not. Published in Vascular, Volume 16, No. 1, 2008.