232 



HEALTH AND DISEASE 



Splints have for their object the restraining of movement by fixing the 

 limb in such a way that the joints cannot be flexed. Anything which will 

 accomplish this without injuring the part to which it is applied may be 

 employed for the purpose. Narrow strips of wood, thin sheet-iron or tin, 

 leather, gutta percha, strong cardboard, pitch or other adhesive plasters, 

 &c. To obtain the greatest possible benefit from a splint it should be 

 sufficiently long to extend over the joint above and the joint below the 

 fracture. Of course this is not always practicable, but it should always be 



present to the mind of the 

 operator to adopt any means 

 in his power to restrict as 

 much as possible the action 

 of the joints of the affected 

 limb. 



Movement of the fractured 

 bone is best controlled by ban- 

 dages soaked in some material 

 which will solidify and form 

 an unyielding splice over the 

 seat of the broken fragments. 

 These hardening substances 

 are variously compounded. 

 Nothing, perhaps, is better 

 than starch or flour mixed to 

 the consistence of treacle with 

 the white of egg. Dextrine, 

 burnt alum, and alcohol is 

 recommended by some; and 

 plaster of Paris, with or with- 

 out flour, and reduced to the 

 consistence of treacle with 

 water, is generally regarded as an excellent preparation. 



These appliances will require to be supplemented with some soft com- 

 pressible substance, by which the irregularities of the limb may be filled 

 in and the pressure of the bandages equalized over the whole circumference 

 of the leg. Where this precaution is neglected there is clanger of undue 

 compression of the more prominent parts, resulting in sloughing of the skin 

 and the production of troublesome sores with their attendant evils. 



After " setting " has been completed, the limb should be kept under 

 close observation for several days. It will sometimes be found to swell 

 in consequence of injury done to the soft tissues at the time of the fracture, 



Fig. 332. Bandaging a Fore-leg 



Showing the bandage completed and tied. A, End of 

 bandage with tapes. 



