Patent ID: 8852132

Claim:
A method of splinting a rib fracture of a patient, comprising steps of: providing a device comprising: a single splint element that is rigid and plastically deformable, has a surface large enough to cover a region of a rib fracture including neighboring ribs, and is provided with a first adhesive on an inner surface thereof; a perimeter secured to the single splint element and lying outside of an outer edge of the single splint element, the perimeter having a second adhesive thereon facing in a same direction as the first adhesive; and applying the device to a patient by the following steps: 1) adhering the single splint element to a first area of skin of the patient that overlies the rib fracture by contacting the first adhesive to said first area of skin, while preventing the second adhesive from contacting skin of the patient; and 2) after adhering the single splint element to the first area of skin, exposing the perimeter and adhering the perimeter to a second area of skin of the patient that lies outside of the first area of skin; wherein step 1 is performed at a different point in a breathing cycle of the patient than step 2; wherein the step 1 is performed when lungs of the patient are in a condition of lower volume than when step 2 is performed.