AAOE Casting, Splinting and Soft Goods Program-Splinting

Video Transcription

This is going to be a cylinder splint. I use two separate pieces of stockinette for this one. Slide the first piece of stockinette from top of the knee to just above mid-thigh  and place the second piece from below the knee to around the ankle.  So you're leaving the knee out so that it contacts a little to help it keep from sliding.  Start wrapping the cast padding about 1 inch to 2 inches above the ankle. Wrap 3 to 5 turns at the starting point for a bumper. Continue up the lower leg using a 50-50 pattern.  Wrap around the knee and up the thigh in the same fashion.  Make three turns at the top of the thigh for a bumper.  Apply extra padding around the patella.  Wrap one more full layer of cast padding in a 50-50 pattern down the leg.  Make sure you've got good coverage everywhere, but you don't want a whole lot of padding on these because they slide.  We're going to take a 4x38 splint. Trim the fiberglass splint, leaving rounded edges, so there is half inch of padding on both ends of the splint.  Wet the splint and wring out as much water as possible. Place the splint to the posterior side of the leg.  Wrap with cast padding or gauze wrap to hold the splint in place.  Just cut it about an inch from the bottom of your padding.  And sometimes that's all that you do, but most of the time you put a splint on the front as well.  If a second splint is ordered for the anterior side of the leg, wet a second fiberglass splint and wring out as much water as possible.  Then trim, leaving rounded edges so there is half inch of padding on both ends of the splint.  Place the fiberglass splint on the anterior side of the leg.  Wrap with cast padding or gauze wrap to hold the splint in place.  You just get that anchored good.  At both ends of the splint, cut slits on each side of the padding and fold back the padding.  Fold the stockinette back over the padding on each end.  Ensure the knee is in the correct amount of flexion and wrap with elastic bandages or colored adhesive self-adhering wrap.  And that's the cylinder splint.

Video Summary

This video demonstrates the process of creating a cylinder splint using stockinette, cast padding, and fiberglass splints. The first step is to apply two separate pieces of stockinette, one from the top of the knee to just above mid-thigh, and the second from below the knee to around the ankle, leaving the knee exposed for better contact. Cast padding is then wrapped around the leg in a 50-50 pattern, with additional padding around the patella. A fiberglass splint is wetted, wrung out, and placed on the posterior side of the leg, secured with cast padding or gauze wrap. If necessary, a second fiberglass splint is applied to the anterior side of the leg. Elastic bandages or self-adhering wrap are used to secure the splints and ensure proper knee flexion.

Keywords

cylinder splint

stockinette

cast padding

fiberglass splints

knee flexion