US38034A - Improvement in surgical splints - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES THOMAS H. OURRIE, OF WEBSTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

IMPROVEMENT IN SURGICAL SPLINTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,034, dated March 3l, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMAs H. CUREIE, of Webster, in the county of Merrimack and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Surgical Splints 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference bein g had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a front longitudinal view of a splint constructed according to my invention.

\ Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section of the same at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists in certain improvements insplints for the leg, wherebythe necessity for bandages is obviated, greater facility is afforded to the surgeon for reducing the fracture, and a better opportunity is afforded to compare the broken limb with the sound one and greater ease is afforded to the patient.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A B and A B are the two sides of the splint, each made of two separate pieces of board, f1tted and connected together in such manner as t3 be capable of extension and contraction in a longitudinal direction. The two upper pieces, A and A', are rigidlyr connected at their backs by means of transverse bars a a, and the two lower pieces, B B, are similarly connected by means of similar bars, b b. The upper piece A of the outer side, A B, is made longer than the corresponding piece, A', ofthe inner side, A B', to enable it to reach up to or above the hip. In the upper part of this piece A there are two holes, d d, for the reception of a band or handkerchief, D, which is passed under and over the thigh, and through the said holes and tied outside, and above the said holes d d are two holes, c c, for the passage of a band which l passes around the body.

E is a screw connected by a pin-joint, @,with a stud, f, which is rigidly secured to the outside of the lower outside piece, B and Fmis a nut tted to the said screw and secured in a swivel, G, which is connected by a pin-joint, g, with a stud, 71 which is rigidly secured to the outside of the upper outside piece, A.

C is a sacking arranged between the sides A B and A B', and secured to the front edges thereof by pins i t', with some slackness between the lower ends of A A a nd 1l ppe r ends of B B to permit the extension of the sides as far as may be necessary.

D is the footpiece attached to the lower outside piece, B, by means of an angle-iron, F, which is arranged to move on a pin, j, which is secured in the piece B at a point which comes about opposite to the ankle-joint. This movement allows the toe to be more or less elevated or depressed, and the iron F, when adjusted, is secured by means of a set-screw, 7c, and nut, Z the said set-screw being fitted to move in a curved slot, m. The foot is attached to the lower part of the iron F by means of a screw, n, and nut p, the nut being fast in the foot-piece, and the screw passing through a slot, q, in the iron, and this mode of attachment provides for the movement of the foot-piece bodily toward and from the piece B, and for the turning of the toe inward or outward, making, with the upward and downward movements of the toe, provided for by the movement of the iron F on the pin j, six movements, in all of which the foot-piece is capable. The footpiece has slots r 1^ to receive straps or bands.

The operation of the splint is as follows: After the fractured limb has been laid in the splint upon the sacking C, and the sacking has been adapted to the form of the leg by means of the pins t' i on each side, the counter-extension at the pelvic bones is provided for by passing a band or handkerchief under and over the thigh, and through the holes d d and tying it, and the splint is secured to the leg by a bandage passed through the `holes c c and around the body. The extension at the foot is provided for by putting adhesive straps about from four to six inches long on each side of the ankle-joint, with ends put through the slots r r in the foot-piece D to tie under the. said piece. The extending-power is applied at the knee by the screwE in such manner as to enable the surgeon to get any desired length of the leg without assistance.

Some of the advantages of this splint are as follows: First, no bandages are necessary, and hence the circulation is not obstructed, but every blood-vessel is allowed to perform its own function, and as the muscles are not bound down so much force is not required to reduce the fracture, and, besides, the surgeon has them all under his control, and the Whole length of' them exposed so that he may act upon them, second, in contused or lacerated What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the'sides A B and A' B', each composed of two pieces, the sacking C, the screw E, and the swivel-nut F, the whole arranged to operate substantially as herein speciiied.

2. Gombinin g the foot-piece D With the outer side of the splint by means of the slotted angleiron F, the screw a, pin j, and screw k, the whole applied substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

THOMAS H, CURRIE.

Witnesses:

JosEPH GoUoH, HIEL J. KIMBALL.

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