engleski

Thermal changes during plaster of Paris making

Purpose of the study: During process of making plaster of Paris immobilisation, exothermic chemical reactions take place with the release of large amounts of thermal energy. During this process the temperature of the plaster is increasing, as well as the tissue to be immobilized. Duration and intensity of the reactions vary depending on a number of factors. One of the factors is the characteristics related to plaster manufacturers. The exothermic reaction of plaster is extremely important feature that should be known with regard to the development of thermal injuries that may occur especially in children. Methods: Surface temperatures of forearm plaster immobilization from three different manufacturers, Safix Plus (Hartmann, Germany), Cellona (Lohman Rauscher, Austria) and Gipsan (Ivo Lola Ribar, Croatia) were measured with infrared thermographic camera, in the same environmental conditions. Ten samples from each manufacturer were measured. All plaster immobilization had 10 layers of plaster bandages, which was submerged in water temperature 22 °C. Surface temperature mesurements were started 2 minutes after immersion of plaster bandages and were measured every minute during the first 20 minutes. Results: Despite a similar thermal pattern of all three types of plaster bandages, some differences were observed. We show the maximum, minimum and average surface temperatures during making of plaster of Paris immobilization. In the same conditions of plaster making, plaster composition with most prominent exotherm reaction is Cellona (Lohman Rauscher, Austria) and with at least prominent reaction is Safix Plus (Hartman, Germany). Differences between maximum and minimum temperatures were most pronounced in plaster Gipsan (Ivo Lola Ribar, Croatia). Conclusions: When using forearm plaster immobilization in ten layers, the exothermic reaction from all three products develope temperatures that are below level for development of thermal injuries.

temperature ; plaster of Paris

Rad je rezultat zajedničkih istraživanja istraživača Jedinice za dozimetriju zračenja i Jedinice za higijenu okoline Instituta za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada (IMI) i Klinike za kirurgiju KBC Zagreb i uz suradnju s kolegama sa Strojarskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu temeljem interno financiranog istraživačkog projekta IMI.