Wrap It Up: Abdominal Binders and the Science of a Snug Recovery
Surgeons know that what happens postoperatively can be just as important to achieve good surgical outcomes as the finesse of the procedure itself. Postoperative recovery is a delicate balance of managing pain, preventing complications and getting patients moving.
Prof. Andreas Obermair
2
min read
•
9 June 2025
Industry news
One common item in the postoperative toolkit - abdominal binders - has long sat in a grey zone between tradition and evidence. For some, they’re a reassuring comfort wrap; for others, an itchy placebo with no proven merit. But a new systematic review and meta-analysis just published might shake up that narrative.
The Binder Lowdown
The review, encompassing 27 randomised clinical trials and more than 2,700 patients, examined whether strapping a patient into a binder after abdominal surgery made any measurable difference. Spoiler: it does. And not just in a “looks good for the morning round” kind of way.
Here’s what the data said:
Pain relief: Patients wearing abdominal binders reported less pain on both day one and day seven postoperatively. On day one, pain scores dropped with a standardised mean difference (SMD) of -0.66, and by day seven, the difference had grown to an SMD of -0.95. That’s not nothing.
Mobility: The 6-minute walk test, a simple yet effective proxy for functional recovery, showed clear improvement. Binder-wearers walked an extra 8.9 metres on day one and an impressive 41.8 metres by day seven. In a ward corridor, that’s practically a lap of honour.
Surgical site infections: The risk difference was -0.08, meaning 8 fewer infections per 100 patients. Not groundbreaking, but notable when surgical site infections (SSIs) can derail recovery and spike costs fast.
What This Means for Practice
For years, abdominal binders have occupied a strange cultural space in surgical practice; routinely prescribed by some, scoffed at by others and largely ignored in major guidelines due to the alleged “lack of high-quality evidence.”
Well, that evidence may no longer be lacking.
The authors of this review used GRADE methodology to assess the certainty of the evidence. They found high-certainty evidence for pain and mobility improvements and moderate certainty for reduced SSIs.
While the findings don’t call for blanket (or binder) use in every patient, they do suggest that binders might be an easy win in enhancing recovery. Think of them as the surgical world’s equivalent of compression socks: cheap, low risk and oddly satisfying.
Caveats (Because We’re Scientists, Not Salespeople)
Of course, not every patient will benefit equally. The review didn’t dive deep into subgroup analyses; e.g., major laparotomies vs minimally invasive procedures; or obese vs non-obese patients. And let’s face it, some patients simply hate the sensation of being wrapped up.
Also, the variation across studies in binder types, durations of use and pain scoring methods means we shouldn’t overgeneralise. No one’s suggesting this replaces careful pain management or proper wound care. But it could be an adjunct worth considering.
What Should Surgeons Do?
At SurgicalPerformance, we’ve long advocated for data-driven decisions, not habit-based ones. This paper is a reminder that even the humble abdominal binder can benefit from a second look under the evidence microscope.
Surgeons and surgical teams should consider:
Discussing binder use as part of routine post-op planning, especially in open abdominal procedures.
Monitoring outcomes like pain, mobility and SSI rates, comparing binder users to non-users within your own practice.
Documenting binder use in your case logs, so you can identify if it contributes to measurable improvements in your own data sets (yes, we’re looking at you, SurgicalPerformance users).
And let’s be honest, if something as low-tech as a piece of Velcro-wrapped fabric can reduce infections, shorten hospital stays and help patients stand up without invoking their full vocabulary of profanities, it’s at least worth a closer look.
Abdominal binders may not be glamorous. They don’t beep, cost thousands or require training modules. But according to this meta-analysis, they do what many fancier interventions promise: they reduce pain, enhance mobility and lower complication rates. All without the need for a grant application.
So next time you're ticking off your post-op orders, don't roll your eyes at the binder. Roll it out; and maybe, just maybe, help your patient take a few more pain-free steps toward recovery.
Reference
Jun Watanabe ([email protected]); Naoya Kasahara, Yoshiyuki Kiyasu, Hironori Yamaguchi, Naohiro Sata. DOI: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2025.116451
One common item in the postoperative toolkit - abdominal binders - has long sat in a grey zone between tradition and evidence. For some, they’re a reassuring comfort wrap; for others, an itchy placebo with no proven merit. But a new systematic review and meta-analysis just published might shake up that narrative.
The Binder Lowdown
The review, encompassing 27 randomised clinical trials and more than 2,700 patients, examined whether strapping a patient into a binder after abdominal surgery made any measurable difference. Spoiler: it does. And not just in a “looks good for the morning round” kind of way.
Here’s what the data said:
Pain relief: Patients wearing abdominal binders reported less pain on both day one and day seven postoperatively. On day one, pain scores dropped with a standardised mean difference (SMD) of -0.66, and by day seven, the difference had grown to an SMD of -0.95. That’s not nothing.
Mobility: The 6-minute walk test, a simple yet effective proxy for functional recovery, showed clear improvement. Binder-wearers walked an extra 8.9 metres on day one and an impressive 41.8 metres by day seven. In a ward corridor, that’s practically a lap of honour.
Surgical site infections: The risk difference was -0.08, meaning 8 fewer infections per 100 patients. Not groundbreaking, but notable when surgical site infections (SSIs) can derail recovery and spike costs fast.
What This Means for Practice
For years, abdominal binders have occupied a strange cultural space in surgical practice; routinely prescribed by some, scoffed at by others and largely ignored in major guidelines due to the alleged “lack of high-quality evidence.”
Well, that evidence may no longer be lacking.
The authors of this review used GRADE methodology to assess the certainty of the evidence. They found high-certainty evidence for pain and mobility improvements and moderate certainty for reduced SSIs.
While the findings don’t call for blanket (or binder) use in every patient, they do suggest that binders might be an easy win in enhancing recovery. Think of them as the surgical world’s equivalent of compression socks: cheap, low risk and oddly satisfying.
Caveats (Because We’re Scientists, Not Salespeople)
Of course, not every patient will benefit equally. The review didn’t dive deep into subgroup analyses; e.g., major laparotomies vs minimally invasive procedures; or obese vs non-obese patients. And let’s face it, some patients simply hate the sensation of being wrapped up.
Also, the variation across studies in binder types, durations of use and pain scoring methods means we shouldn’t overgeneralise. No one’s suggesting this replaces careful pain management or proper wound care. But it could be an adjunct worth considering.
What Should Surgeons Do?
At SurgicalPerformance, we’ve long advocated for data-driven decisions, not habit-based ones. This paper is a reminder that even the humble abdominal binder can benefit from a second look under the evidence microscope.
Surgeons and surgical teams should consider:
Discussing binder use as part of routine post-op planning, especially in open abdominal procedures.
Monitoring outcomes like pain, mobility and SSI rates, comparing binder users to non-users within your own practice.
Documenting binder use in your case logs, so you can identify if it contributes to measurable improvements in your own data sets (yes, we’re looking at you, SurgicalPerformance users).
And let’s be honest, if something as low-tech as a piece of Velcro-wrapped fabric can reduce infections, shorten hospital stays and help patients stand up without invoking their full vocabulary of profanities, it’s at least worth a closer look.
Abdominal binders may not be glamorous. They don’t beep, cost thousands or require training modules. But according to this meta-analysis, they do what many fancier interventions promise: they reduce pain, enhance mobility and lower complication rates. All without the need for a grant application.
So next time you're ticking off your post-op orders, don't roll your eyes at the binder. Roll it out; and maybe, just maybe, help your patient take a few more pain-free steps toward recovery.
Reference
Jun Watanabe ([email protected]); Naoya Kasahara, Yoshiyuki Kiyasu, Hironori Yamaguchi, Naohiro Sata. DOI: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2025.116451
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SurgicalPerformance is a confidential online platform, built for surgeons by surgeons, to help you ‘know better’.
SurgicalPerformance is a confidential online platform, built for surgeons by surgeons, to help you ‘know better’.