AAOE Casting, Splinting and Soft Goods Program-Splinting

Video Transcription

Place the stockinette from the knee to the tip of the toes with a fold at the ankle.  Be sure to keep the ankle at 90 degrees.  Cut out the fold at the ankle to prevent rubbing.  To improve blood flow and reduce swelling from trapping, apply cast padding starting with the toes and making three turns around the toes for a bumper.  Continue wrapping proximally up the leg, applying 50-50 coverage all the way up.  Make three turns at the top below the knee for a bumper,  Apply extra padding around the bony prominence and the back of the heel.  For extra padding at the heel, you can use two-layer strip of padding for a stirrup under the heel and a three-layer strip for the back of the heel.  Keep the ankle at a 90-degree angle, unless otherwise ordered.  Take your gauze wrap, lay the fiberglass on the posterior side of the leg, starting at one inch below the top of the padding. Wrap the cast padding or gauze, moving distally.  Continue wrapping to the metatarsals, bringing the splint around the heel to the base of the metatarsals. Trim the splint to the appropriate length per physician order.  You want to cut a slit at the heel on each side.  And that's the basic part of a posterior leg splint. A lot of doctors will order them with a stirrup, just a little extra stability.  If you weren't adding the stirrup, you would just finish that out with the elastic wrap or co-band.  If a stirrup has been ordered for extra stability, apply a second splint starting one inch below the padding on the side of the leg,  wrapping around the heel and up the other side of the leg to one inch below the padding.  Wrap the splint with cast padding or gauze to hold in place.  Then just come back up the other side and you're going to trim your splint at the same level.  Cut slits at both ends of padding and fold back the cast padding. Fold down the stockinette over the padding.  Trim out the toes.  So you can see all the toes and they have plenty of room to wiggle.  Thank you for watching.  And that's our short leg split.

Video Summary

The video demonstrates how to apply a posterior leg splint. The process involves placing a stockinette from the knee to the toes, with a fold at the ankle. Cast padding is then wrapped around the leg, starting from the toes and moving up to the knee. Extra padding is added around bony areas and the heel. A fiberglass splint is applied, starting below the padding and wrapping around the leg and heel. A stirrup may be added for extra stability. The splint and padding are trimmed and the stockinette is folded over the toes for comfort.

Keywords

posterior leg splint

applying splint

leg immobilization

fiberglass splint

cast padding