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Show rmcrenn on THE Tnion BUNE. FRACPTTRF. on Tue THIGH BONE. offer will, I hope, he found simple, and, in proportion to its; simplicity, effectual, for securing the limb in the best position. hand wide over the thigh and the fractured part, that he may feel the crepitation and the motion which the broken extremities of the bone sulfer. Now one long splint is to be laid on the outside of the thigh, reaching from the hip to the side of the knee, another upon the inside of the thigh and over these the eighteen-tailed bandage is to be applied. It is now to be observed how far the thigh answers to the 1343 135 inclined plane, A; for it will be understood, that the thigh and body, in some degree, now hang upon the angle of union of the two boards, and that if this board, A, be much longer It will be necessary for the first night to secure the limb with the common splint and bandage and lay it out on a pil- low. In an hour this frame may be constructed : two boards. A, B, Fig. l, of ten or eleven inches in breadth and of a Jag-ll" lNUlA length equal to the distance of the heel from the back of the knee-joint, are to be united at an angle answering to an easy and relaxed flexion of the limb, and secured by a horizontal board C. Near the edge of the inclined boards, holes are to be made and pegs of wood fitted to them, D, D. Cushions. like Figs. 2 and 3, are then laid on this frame, when it is read} to receive the limb. than the thigh, the muscles of the thigh will be strained. If, on the contrary, it be shorter the muscles of the thigh will act, and the broken ends of the thigh bone may ride over each other, notwithstanding the lateral splints and the bandage. To ease the muscles of the thigh, we must raise the hip, by placing a thin cushion under it at F: To stretch it, we must take the cloths from under the hip, or make the pad larger under the knee joint at E. To support the foot from rolling, the edges of the pillows or mattresses are folded up and fixed by the pegs so as to give a lateral support to the whole limb from the hip to the ancle. If the thigh has been much bruised and be now swoln, perhaps it will be better simply to lay it out 011 this frame without splints, for it will be soft, and be equally supported, and moderate] y stretched. What is the most frequent kind of defect in the limb after fracture of the thigh bone 9 There can be no doubt that it is shortening of the thigh, together with a twist of the limb, which Iames the patient by depriving him of the strength from the muscles of the leg, and takes at the same time the length of the foot from the step of that leg. We have now only to consider the latter of these effects of inattention ; hav: The limb is to be laid over the cushions or mattresses thus supported on their frame. The bone is now to be accurately set, (if it has not been already done), by the assistant taking the knee and gently extending it, while the surgeon puts his i r."- " '0'? o‘. -.,-.,g.r.» 7,43,"; . r. ing, as we hope, done all that can be done, by the substitua tion of a simple contrivance, and by making the weight of the body the counterpoise to the strength of the muscles, to prevent the retraction of the limb. and consequently the perma nent shortening of it. /' |
