My wife is a family physician. She sees patients with different conditions - mainly medical and pediatric, but also from other specialties including orthopedic. She saw a patient with a fracture of the middle phalanx of the little finger. There was no displacement. The treatment was to apply a buddy splint and give analgesia as required. Conventionally one applies adhesive tape encircling the little and middle fingers, so that the little finger gets immobilized.
"There are some problems with the use of adhesive tape to apply a buddy splint" she explained to me. "It gets wet some time or other during the day, and then the skin of the fingers gets sodden. If it happens too often, the fingers smell. Another problem is that the skin gets pulled on when the bandage is removed, and it hurts. Imagine changing it every day. With movements of this nature, how will the fracture site be immobilized?"
"So what did you do?" I asked. "Did you prescribe a ready splint?"
"I could have done that. But the patient was poor. She did not afford a ready splint. There was also no fun in using a ready splint."
"Hmm...." I said. She enjoyed her work like I enjoy mine. It is the fun part of work that makes it more enjoyable.
"I used Velcro to make a splint" she said. "I passed a strip around the two fingers, adhesive surface out. Then I stuck the counterpart of the strip over it, the adhesive surfaces in contact with each other. It worked like a charm."
The figure below is my depiction of the splint in 3D.
"Did it not irritate the skin?" I asked.
"No. The nonadhesive surface in contact with the skin is smooth. It is tolerated very well. Removal and reapplication are easy. It can be cleaned easily too."
"Congrats" I said. "You have found a new use for Velcro."
"Write about it on your blog" she said. "It will help someone out there looking for a good method to apply a buddy splint."
"Yes, I will" I said. She thought like I did about disseminating useful ideas on the net.
"There are some problems with the use of adhesive tape to apply a buddy splint" she explained to me. "It gets wet some time or other during the day, and then the skin of the fingers gets sodden. If it happens too often, the fingers smell. Another problem is that the skin gets pulled on when the bandage is removed, and it hurts. Imagine changing it every day. With movements of this nature, how will the fracture site be immobilized?"
"So what did you do?" I asked. "Did you prescribe a ready splint?"
"I could have done that. But the patient was poor. She did not afford a ready splint. There was also no fun in using a ready splint."
"Hmm...." I said. She enjoyed her work like I enjoy mine. It is the fun part of work that makes it more enjoyable.
"I used Velcro to make a splint" she said. "I passed a strip around the two fingers, adhesive surface out. Then I stuck the counterpart of the strip over it, the adhesive surfaces in contact with each other. It worked like a charm."
The figure below is my depiction of the splint in 3D.
"Did it not irritate the skin?" I asked.
"No. The nonadhesive surface in contact with the skin is smooth. It is tolerated very well. Removal and reapplication are easy. It can be cleaned easily too."
"Congrats" I said. "You have found a new use for Velcro."
"Write about it on your blog" she said. "It will help someone out there looking for a good method to apply a buddy splint."
"Yes, I will" I said. She thought like I did about disseminating useful ideas on the net.
