Improvement in Flexed Splints.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 11th July, 1896-Accepted, 15th Aug., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM DICKEY KEARNS, of Pittsburg,
County of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, one of the United States of
America, Doctor of Medicine.]
Improvement in Flexed Splints.
I JOHN THOMSON KING, of 4 Clayton Square Liverpool in the County of
Lancaster, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-.
My invention consists in an improvement in splints for treating fracture of the
fore arm or wrist, and it consists in giving to the splints a peculiar conformation
which is especially adapted to secure the greater comfort of the patient, and to
lessen the liability to displacement of the bones during the process of setting.
In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,
Figure 1 is a side view in perspective of a pair of my improved splints as applied
to the fore arm and right hand of a patient.
Figure 2 is a top view of the palmar splint.
Figure 3 is a side perspective view of the palmar splint of Figure 2.
The splints represented in these figures and to which my improvement is applied
form a pair, the upper one A in Figure being the dorsal splint applied to the
back of the hand and forearm, and the other splint B being the palmar splint,
applied to the inside of the fingers, the palm of the hand and the front side of the
forearm.
In my invention it is the palmar splint B which by its peculiar conformation is
designed to govern the position of the hand, while the dorsal splint A serves
merely to preserve the position of the bones of the arm, wrist, metacarpus, and
fingers assumed by those parts when the palmar splint is applied to the hand.
In explaining my invention I shall confine the description chiefly to the palmar
splint B for the reason that it is chiefly concerned in governing the position of the
hand of the patient.
The palmar splint B instead of being straight longitudinally, is bent or inclined,
the angle of inclination being at the wrist, as shown by the dotted line-
of Figure 2, so that when the splint is applied to the hand and arm, with the
brachial portion a under the forearm with the wrist of the patient's hand resting at
the point of the splint marked c in Figure 3, and the palm of his hand and fingers
resting on the metacarpal portion b of the splint, the hand assumes a position of
inclination outwards when the palm of the hand is down, which it will be observed
is the natural position of the human hand relatively to the forearm when the hand
is at ease.
This palmar splint has also an abrupt upward flexure, or angle of retroflexion
between the brachial portion a and the metacarpal portion b. This angle of retro-
flexion (as shown by the dotted lines e, f, g, in Figure 3) is from one hundred to
one hundred and five degrees. This secures a greater degree of upward flexure of
the hand at the wrist relatively to the forearm which I find to be very advantageous
in practice.
At that portion of the palmar splint on which the wrist of the patient rests, I
make an upward swelling or projection h on the upper or inside of the splint which
extends a short distance up the brachial portion a and also transversely across the

page_text: splint. This projection has the effect of forming a cavity or recess at the base of
the palmar metacarpal portion of the splint for the reception of the ball of the
thumb of the patients hand, thus relieving it of undue pressure and also permitting
of a tolerably free movement of the thumb which is a great relief to the wearer.
The dorsal splint A is so shaped as to conform to the contour of the patient's
hand when placed in the palmar splint, as seen in Figure 1, and corresponds with
the palmar splint in having a corresponding retroflexion at the wrist as well as an
outward inclination relatively to the brachial portion, also at the wrist as
described.
It is hardly necessary to say that the splints for the left hand and arm will have
the same degree of upward retroflexion, but the outward sidewise inclination will
be in the opposite direction.
My improved splints may be made of wood, paper board, hard rubber, metal, or
other convenient and suitable material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A flexed palmar splint for treating fracture of the forearm or wrist,
having a longitudinal brachial surface and a metacarpal palmer surface at a some-
what obtuse angle to each other, the metacarpal portion being retroflexed or
turned upwards at the wrist and also having a slight relative outward inclination in
a sidewise direction; substantially as described.
Second. A flexed palmer splint for treating fracture of the forearm or wrist,
having a longitudinal surface and a palmar metacarpal surface flexed relatively to
each other at an angle of from about 100 to 105 degrees, the brachial portion
having a slight transverse upward projection extending from the wrist just beyond
the point of flexure so as to form a cavity at the base of the palmar metacarpal
portion for the reception of the ball of the thumb of the patient, substantially as
described.
Third. A pair of flexed splints for treatment of the forearm or wrist, consisting
of a palmar splint and a dorsal splint, the palmar splint having a palmar meta-
carpal portion slightly inclined outwardly relatively to the brachial portion and
abruptly flexed relatively to the brachial portion at the wrist at an angle of about
100 degrees in an upward direction, and the brachial portion having just beyond
such point of flexure a slight projection ou its inner surface extending the whole
width of the splint, and the dorsal splint being so shaped as to form for the back
of the hand, wrist, and forearm a counterpart of the palmar splint so as to fit the
back of the hand and forearm, when they are resting on the palmar splint;
substantially as described.
Dated the 10th day of Tul 1906