Book Chapters

Fracture bracing of the lower extremity, which has been used successfully since the 1970s, has taught clinicians that protected early motion ans weight bearing stimulate strong bone formation.

Clinical experience confirms certain risk factors for stiffness in the hand. The more tissue traumatized, the greater the likelihood of stiffness.

In 1833, Sir Charles Bell wrote: "On the length, strength, free lateral motion, and perfect mobility of the thumb, depends on the power of the human hand."

HandLab Resource Archive Splinting the hand with a peripheral nerve injury is both easy and difficult. The ease of splinting results from the readily recognizable and often identical deformities. Therefore, unlike many other hand injuries, the deformities resulting from isolated peripheral nerve paralysis are usually effectively splinted using standard splinting...

HandLab Resource Archive Obstetrical brachial palsy (OBP) results from stretching of the brachial plexus as the baby passes through the birth canal. If the baby's head and shoulders are pulled in opposite directions during delivery, the upper part of the brachial plexus is stretched (Erb's palsy). Breech deliveries can cause...

HandLab Resource Archive For centuries physicians have used bandages and homemade devices to immobilize and support injured limbs. Before modern health specialization, the physician or surgeon built the devices or enlisted the help of the local blacksmith or carpenter. It is only in recent years that hand splinting has become...

HandLab Resource Archive The proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint is vulnerable to injury, because it lies midway between the long lever arms of the proximal and middle phalanges. Its tight anatomic construction and intricate anatomy are unforgiving of forces crossing it in any plane but the normal flexion or extension. Residual...