Fig 1.
Structure of the new surgical tape with mesh.
A mesh was placed under the tape substrate. As the adhesive contacted the skin through the mesh holes, the entire surgical tape could be fixed to the skin. The adhesive surface was divided by the mesh because the adhesive did not come into contact with the skin around the area where the mesh was present.
Fig 2.
The mesh was made of olefin using the printing method. The openings of the mesh were pentagonal, with a line thickness of 250 μm, width of 750 μm, and open area ratio of 76%.
Fig 3.
How to use the mesh when removing the tape.
While pressing the mesh (A side) with one finger, pinch the tape base with the other finger and slowly peel it off. The downward force applied from A and B prevents skin deformation.
Fig 4.
The appearance of pain Vision™.
Pain Vision™ is a somatosensory-evoked nerve electrical stimulator instrument that shows the degree of pain. This device uses a unique waveform and current frequency to determine the degree of pain. There are no complicated operations, and one measurement could be performed in approximately 3 min (https://med.nipro.co.jp/med_eq_category_detail?id=a1U1000000b536NEAQ; converted from this website).
Fig 5.
The state of the skin when the tape with mesh is peeled off.
The deflection of the skin when the mesh was suppressed and only the substrate was peeled off (right) was smaller than its deflection when the mesh and substrate were peeled off together (left). In both methods, the tape was removed while maintaining an angle of approximately 120° between the skin and tape. An orange dashed line indicating the amount of skin deformation is added to the same standard photograph.
Fig 6.
Box plots for the degree of pain when the tape was peeled off among three types of peeling.
Control tapes: surgical tapes without the mesh. Experimental tapes: surgical tapes with the mesh. Experimental tape 1: the tape was peeled off while leaving the mesh on the skin. Experimental tape 2: the tape was peeled off together with the mesh from the skin.
Fig 7.
The result of Friedman’s test for the degree of pain when peeling off the tape in the control and experimental groups.
A significant difference was found (p <0.001). Control tapes: surgical tapes without the mesh. Experimental tapes: surgical tapes with the mesh. Experimental tape 1: the tape was peeled off while leaving the mesh on the skin. Experimental tape 2: the tape was peeled off together with the mesh from the skin.
Fig 8.
The result of Wilcoxon’s coded rank test for the degree of pain when peeling off the tape in the experimental groups.
A significant difference was found (p = 0.03). Control tapes: surgical tapes without the mesh. Experimental tapes: surgical tapes with the mesh. Experimental tape 1: the tape was peeled off while leaving the mesh on the skin. Experimental tape 2: the tape was peeled off together with the mesh from the skin.