Splinting Pearl

When using a draping splinting material, it helps to have the patient in the desired position before you start forming the plastic. For example, if you are making a volar wrist splint or resting hand splint, have the patient supinate his/her arm on the table top then place one ace bandage under the patient’s forearm and another under the metacarpals. Drape and form your plastic over the hand and forearm.

If you need to stretch the fingers into extension, use Micropore tape. Apply a piece of the tape to each fingertip to be stretched. Twist the tape right at the end of the fingertip to keep it on the finger then pull on the tape to stretch each finger to the desired position and attach the other end to the table. Now form and shape your plastic over the arm as above. This also works great when you need to pull the fingers into slight radial deviation. If your patient is unable to supinate -- no worries. Just lay them down on a matt, elevate and ER the shoulder and use the same procedure.