Splints

Holding bone still, which is most of what this specialty actually does. Splints and bandaging, the plaster of Paris bandage and the argument about who introduced it, corsets and spinal jackets, the Thomas splint, the Milwaukee brace, calipers, and the traditional bonesetters who worked alongside and often ahead of the profession. On the Thomas splint, note what this archive does not say: the famous wartime mortality figure is not established, the sources disagree, and Thomas himself died in 1891, more than twenty years before the war it is credited with changing.

Part of Orthopedics

79 moments in this segment.

  1. - Unidentified object. A lead alloy unidentified object; possibly a Post Medieval decorative element from a house wall. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  2. - Articulated manikin, iron, used to teach bone-setting etcete. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  3. - A surgeon and two assistants using pulleys and ropes to aid traction for manipulating the body of a male patient. Woodcut, 1575.
  4. - Chinese C18 woodcut: 'Traction rope and piled bricks'. Early 18th-century Chinese woodcut illustrating the use of the 'traction rope and piled bricks' (pansuo diezhuang) method, from Yizong jinjian: Zhenggu xinfa (The Golden Mirror Of Medicine: Essential Knowledge and Secrets of Bonesetting Manipulations). Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  5. - Chinese C18 woodcut: Tongmu splint. Early 18th-century Chinese woodcut illustrating the tongmu splint, used for fractures, from Yizong jinjian: Zhenggu xinfa (The Golden Mirror Of Medicine: Essential Knowledge and Secrets of Bonesetting Manipulations). Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  6. - Orthopaedic apparatus for the whole human body: posterior view. Engraving by G. Georgi, 1656.
  7. - Orthopaedic apparatus for the whole human body: anterior view. Engraving by G. Georgi, 1656.
  8. - Orthopedic traction, the Archimedes screw and astronomical instruments: seven figures. Etching, 1769.
  9. - Kreupele bedelaar, RP-P-OB-46.566. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  10. - Man op stoel met wieltjes voortgetrokken, RP-P-OB-46.571. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  11. - Kreupele man in driewielig karretje, RP-P-OB-46.569. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  12. - Allegorische vrouwenfiguur, in triomfwagen, RP-T-1904-10. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  13. - Bandages and splints, from Bertrandi: <i>Opere</i>, 1786. Bandages and splints, from Bertrandi: Opere, 1786. Woodcut illustration from Bertrandi, Giovanni Ambrogio Maria: Opere, di Ambrogio Bertrandi, volume I, Torino : Fratelli Reycends, 1786-1802. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  14. - Bandages, from Bertrandi: <i>Opere</i>, 1786. Bandages, from Bertrandi: Opere, 1786. Woodcut illustration from Bertrandi, Giovanni Ambrogio Maria: Opere, di Ambrogio Bertrandi, volume I, Torino : Fratelli Reycends, 1786-1802. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  15. - A woman doctor bandaging a young woman's hand. Mezzotint, 1787.
  16. - Splints for fractures, used by Navy, c. 1806. Illustration showing the splints commonly used in fractures of the extremities (arms and legs), and which were ordered by the Government in the list of Naval instruments. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  17. - Abnormal heads and skulls, fractured and bandaged clavicle and a broken (?) leg bandaged in a splint. Engraving by W. Lowry, 1811, after J. Farey, the younger.
  18. - Surgical instruments, including Dr. Hulme's truss. Engraving by Wilson Lowry after J. Farey jun., 1812.
  19. - Surgical instruments for the extraction of cataracts. Engraving by W. Lowry after J. Farey jun., 1812.
  20. - Surgical instruments for the extraction of cataracts. Engraving by W. Lowry after J. Farey jun., 1814.
  21. - Chinese woodcut: Lumbar fixation splint. Woodcut from Shangke buyao (Supplement to Traumatology) by Qian Xiuchang, published in 1818 (23rd year of the Jiaqing reign period of the Qing dynasty). Bone-setting emerged as a specialised skill in China roughly three thousand years ago, wound physicians are attested from the Zhou dynasty, and die-da is the Chinese bone-setting and traumatology tradition, historically linked with martial arts communities.
  22. - Advertisment for a thigh splint: two figures, including an illustration showing the splint in place on a bandaged limb. Engraving with etching, 1830/1860?.
  23. - Clubfoot and the operation to cure the condition. Coloured lithograph by N.H. Jacob.
  24. - Illustration of a carriage allowing someone on an orthopaedic appliance to bathe in the sea, 1835. Illustration published in Heine, Johann Georg: Physiologie de l'effet des bains sur l'organisme vital de l'homme, La Haye : A.P. van Langenhuysen, 1835. Corsets, spinal jackets and mechanical apparatus proliferated across Europe from the late eighteenth century as orthopedic institutes multiplied.
  25. - Spinal disease and spinal curvature : their treatment by suspension and the use of the plaster of Paris bandage / by Lewis A. Sayre.. Spinal disease and spinal curvature : their treatment by suspension and the use of the plaster of Paris bandage / by Lewis. Sayre. Priority for the plaster of Paris bandage is contested and taught differently by country. Antonius Mathijsen, a Dutch army surgeon, published his in 1852, and Nikolai Pirogov used plaster in military surgery in the Crimean War.
  26. - Illustration of Thomas's hip splint on a patient, with patten crutches. Reproduction of an illustration published in Thomas, Hugh Owen: Diseases of the hip, knee, and ankle, joints, with their deformities, treated by a new and efficient method, Liverpool : T. Dobb, 1876. Hugh Owen Thomas designed the splint and published on it in 1875.
  27. - Sculpture, plaster (AM 53811-9). Sculpture, plaster reproduction of classical (antique) Dying Galatian. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  28. - Splint for knee excision, from Cheyne: <i>Antiseptic Surgery</i> (1882). Splint for knee excision, from Cheyne: Antiseptic Surgery (1882). Drawings reproduced as figures 54 and 55 in Cheyne, W. Watson: Antiseptic surgery : its principles, practice, history and results, London: Smith, Elder, 1882. Joseph Lister published his method in The Lancet in 1867, arguing it through compound fracture, which is an orthopedic problem.
  29. - Illustration of Roth's instrument for Pes Equinus, a bunion spring and von Harten's splint for Varus Equinus. Illustrations published in Mayer & Meltzer: Catalogue of surgical instruments and appliances, London : Butler & Tanner, 1885. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  30. - Illustration of crutches and orthopaedic boots, 1885. Illustration published in Mayer & Meltzer: Catalogue of surgical instruments and appliances, London : Butler & Tanner, 1885. Crutches, calipers and walking supports are the everyday apparatus of orthopedic care and are far more numerous in the visual record than any operation.
  31. - Groepsportret van vijf jongens rond een rolstoel, RP-F-F21249. Wheeled chairs and invalid carriages are part of the orthopedic and disability record, and they document mobility as it was actually arranged rather than as it was prescribed.
  32. - A sailor setting the broken leg of another sailor after. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  33. - Boer War: a military physician bandages a wounded man in the open air, others watch. Wash drawing with gouache by H.M. Paget after Reinhold Thiele, 1900.
  34. - Boer War: a military physician bandages a wounded man in the open air, others watch. Halftone after H.M. Paget after R. Thiele, 1900.
  35. - Bandaging techniques for use in first aid. Lithograph, ca. 1900.
  36. - "Roller Chair approved and adopted as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Special. T.D Jackson, Concessionaire." (Roller chair used at the 1904 World's Fair). Title: "Roller Chair approved and adopted as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Special. Polio paralysis was responsible for more orthopedic cases than any other disease or condition of its era.
  37. - Russo-Japanese War: the Russian tsar visits an admiral in hospital; the admiral's head appears as a bandaged ship. Coloured woodcut, 1904.. 1904-05 over conflicting claims to sovereignty in parts of east Asia. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  38. - Russo-Japanese War: rows of women in a large warehouse making bandages for the wounded Japanese. Pen and ink drawing, 1904.
  39. - Johannesburg Hospital, South Africa: hospital ward with male patients, many with bandaged heads. Photograph, c. 1905.
  40. - Canvas and leather first aid case, Germany, 1914-1918. Filled with bandages and wooden splints, this canvas and leather first aid case was used by the German Army during the First World War. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  41. - Padded left boot with leg splint, Rome, Italy, 1914-1918. Splints are rigid pieces of metal, wood or plastic used to keep a limb still after it has been injured, broken or sprained. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  42. - Metal leg splint, Europe, 1915-1918. Splints are rigid pieces of metal, wood or plastic used to keep a limb still after it has been injured, broken or sprained. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  43. - Support of torso and left arm, Shepherd's Bush, London, Engl. Covering the upper body and left arm, this leather and steel support was used at the Military Orthopaedic Hospital in Shepherds Bush, London. Sir Robert Jones, Hugh Owen Thomas's nephew and pupil, was the pivotal organiser of British orthopedics.
  44. - Knee support, steel and leather made by patients at the Mili. Polio paralysis was responsible for more orthopedic cases than any other disease or condition of its era. For roughly the first two thirds of the twentieth century the visual and institutional identity of orthopedics in Europe and North America was paediatric, non-operative and long-stay.
  45. - British medical journal (1917). Plate from British medical journal, 1857 by British Medical Association (London British Medical Association). Polio paralysis was responsible for more orthopedic cases than any other disease or condition of its era.
  46. - A skull with surgical bandage, side view. Photograph of a print publication of a side view of a skull found intact with a cotton surgical bandage around it, of Native American origin. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  47. - Illustration of Thomas's splint drill. Reproduction of an illustration published in Mitchiner, Philip H.: Medical organization and surgical practice in air raids, London : Churchill, 1939. Hugh Owen Thomas designed the splint and published on it in 1875.
  48. - Illustration of the application of Thomas's splint, for fractures of the femur and leg bones. Reproduction of an illustration published in Mitchiner, Philip H.: Medical organization and surgical practice in air raids, London : Churchill, 1939. Hugh Owen Thomas designed the splint and published on it in 1875.
  49. - Emergency First Aid: Part 3 - Fractures (1942, silent). Emergency First Aid part three, on fractures, a silent American film of 1942 from the Prelinger Archives. Wartime civil defence films taught splinting to a general population.
  50. - Emergency First Aid: Part 2 - Bandaging Wounds And Burns (1942, silent). Emergency First Aid part two, on bandaging, a silent American film of 1942 from the Prelinger Archives. Bandaging and splinting were taught as civil defence subjects during the Second World War.
  51. - NCP4145. [Boy in Emerson respirator (iron lung) in Herman Keifer Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, due to polio. Polio paralysis was responsible for more orthopedic cases than any other disease or condition of its era.
  52. - ASC Leiden - J. Th. Broekhuijse Collection - 01 - 033 - A seated healer splints the right arm of a seated boy - Burkina Faso, 1970-05-24 -- 1970-06-07. A seated healer splints the right arm of a seated boy in front of a bamboo fence. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  53. - ASC Leiden - J. Th. Broekhuijse Collection - 01 - 056 - A splint of white stems is tied to a left forearm in the sun - Burkina Faso, prob. 1970-1971. A splint of white stems is tied to a left forearm in the sun. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  54. - Botas. Shoes mounted on a brace to treat clubfoot. The Ponseti method, a non-surgical correction for clubfoot developed by Ignacio Ponseti at Iowa, is low cost and has been the basis of large international programmes.
  55. - Examples of the Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis brace, 2011. Polio paralysis was responsible for more orthopedic cases than any other disease or condition of its era. For roughly the first two thirds of the twentieth century the visual and institutional identity of orthopedics in Europe and North America was paediatric, non-operative and long-stay.
  56. - Blue orthosis Ortika (3). Blue orthosis Ortika intended to fixation thumb on the left hand. Polio paralysis was responsible for more orthopedic cases than any other disease or condition of its era.
  57. - Orthosis Ortex (1). Orthosis Ortex intended to fixation wrist on the left hand. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  58. - Upperlimb Orthotics variety of orthoses. Variety of low temperature upperlimb orthoses. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  59. - Upperlimb Orthosis Wrist Hand Orthosis. Low temperature Wrist Hand Orthosis. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  60. - AFO Ankle Foot Orthosis Orthotic Brace. An Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) brace is a type of orthotic. Polio paralysis was responsible for more orthopedic cases than any other disease or condition of its era.
  61. - Ciara's story - clip from documentary film - "The Back Story". Clip from The Back Story, a documentary about children with scoliosis. Bracing is worn for years and its social cost falls almost entirely on adolescents.
  62. - Jen's Story clip from documentary The Back Story Changing the Lives of Kids with Scoliosis HD. A second patient account from The Back Story. Weinstein and Ponseti's forty year follow-up study is the standard reference for the natural history of untreated scoliosis.
  63. - Ankle foot orthosis splint. An Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) is a type of splint used to support the foot and ankle. Splinting and bandaging to immobilise a fracture is attested for at least three thousand years, in Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Chinese practice alike, long before the word orthopaedics existed.
  64. - The Natural History of Scoliosis: Understanding Weinstein & Ponseti'sl 40 year follow-up study. On Weinstein and Ponseti's forty year follow-up study of untreated scoliosis. Long natural-history studies are what make it possible to judge whether an intervention changed anything.
  65. - Traditional Bone Setting. The traditional bone setter is a lay practitioner who practices the management of dislocations and fractures without having had any formal training. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  66. - MEDICAL HISTORY: Thomas Splint. On the Thomas splint. The famous wartime mortality figure attached to it is not established: five sources give four different endpoints off two different baselines, and the most-cited version traces to Surgeon Sir Henry Gray's report about a single battle.
  67. - Ponseti Clubfoot Treatment Worldwide - Feature Length Documentary. Feature-length documentary on Ponseti clubfoot treatment worldwide. The method uses serial casting and bracing rather than surgery, and it has been the basis of large international programmes.
  68. - Clubfoot Documentary. Documentary on clubfoot. Ignacio Ponseti developed his non-surgical correction at Iowa; he died in 2009.
  69. - Faye Viviana's Scoliosis Story - Idiopathic Juvenile Scoliosis Diagnosis with Boston Brace Treatment. A patient's account of juvenile idiopathic scoliosis and Boston brace treatment. The Boston brace followed the Milwaukee brace, which was the standard American orthosis from the 1940s.
  70. - HK TKO 將軍澳 Tseung Kwan O Tong Ming Street shop Chan Wah bone-setting evening January 2022. HK TKO zh:將軍澳 Tseung Kwan O evening in January 2022. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  71. - HK TKO 將軍澳 Tseung Kwan O Tong Ming Street shop Chan Wah Clinic bone-setting evening January 2022. HK TKO zh:將軍澳 Tseung Kwan O evening in January 2022. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  72. - HK TKO 將軍澳 Tseung Kwan O Tong Ming Street shop Po Yan bone-setting evening January 2022. HK TKO zh:將軍澳 Tseung Kwan O evening in January 2022. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  73. - A Documentary on Public Awareness on Clubfoot Disability in Ghana. Documentary on public awareness of clubfoot in Ghana. Untreated clubfoot is a well-documented global access problem and the Ponseti method is low cost.
  74. - Bronze Age bone and ivory settings from England, Spain and Greece. Bronze Age bone and ivory settings in Europe. Bonesetters were unlicensed, frequently hereditary practitioners of manipulation who persisted alongside and in competition with the medical profession into the twentieth century, and in some regions to the present.
  75. - 125472 sheba hospital tel hashomer PikiWiki Israel. Name: Sheba Hospital Tel HashomerDescription: Wheelchair collection facility at Sheba Hospital. Wheeled chairs and invalid carriages are part of the orthopedic and disability record, and they document mobility as it was actually arranged rather than as it was prescribed.
  76. - How Did The Thomas Splint Change WWI Medical Treatment? - First World War Journal. On how the Thomas splint changed wartime treatment of femoral fracture. The often-quoted eighty per cent baseline mortality is asserted rather than derived in every source that repeats it.
  77. - What Was The Impact Of The Thomas Splint In WWI? - First World War Journal. On the impact of the Thomas splint in the First World War. The mortality claim is disputed: debridement, Carrel-Dakin irrigation, transfusion, anti-tetanus treatment and shortened evacuation all changed in the same window, and the sympathetic review concedes the fall cannot be attributed solely to the splint.
  78. - Contributions by Sir Hugh Owen Thomas. On the contributions of Sir Hugh Owen Thomas, the Liverpool surgeon who designed the Thomas splint in 1875. Thomas died in 1891, more than twenty years before the First World War; it was his nephew Robert Jones who deployed the splint at the front.
  79. - History and Evolution of Spine Deformity Care presented by Behrooz Akbarnia, MD. Behrooz Akbarnia on the history and evolution of spinal deformity care. Correction moved from casts and traction through Harrington instrumentation to segmental systems.
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