Older children with femur fractures can be treated with skin traction in a Thomas splint. Unlike the adult the knee must be kept straight in the Thomas Splint.
The ring of the Thomas splint must allow two finger clearance on all sides- try it on the well leg for fit before applying. The skin strapping is applied and the Thomas Splint fitted. The ropes from the strapping are tied to the end of the Thomas splint. The outer one is passed under the Thomas splint bar and the inner one Over. This rotates the foot internally. The limb is rested on three flannel strips secured by safety pins. The Master sling is the flannel strip directly distal to the fracture.
These slings can be adjusted so that he fracture ends align in the vertical plane. The longitudinal traction needs adjustment every day in the first week. The knot at the end of the Thomas splint is loosened and the slack taken up. The quality of reduction is confirmed by regular X rays.
The Thomas splint is suspended from a Balkan Frame. This is a frame attached to the bed. To allow the patient to move about in the bed e.g. to use a bed pan. The limb with the Thomas splint is suspended from the top of the Thomas Splint by means of a counter weight. The longitudinal traction exerts pressure on the groin and a further weight is placed over a pulley on the balkan frame. It is in line with the long axis of the limb at the foot of the bed. This counter acts the reactive force on the groin generated by the skin traction.
Overgrowth Slight overlapping (up to 2 cm) of the bones is acceptable, as the fracture stimulates overgrowth in the local growth plates. End-on-end reduction, as with plating and other internal fixations, sometimes results in the injured limb growing more then the uninjured. Most of the overgrowth takes place in the first year after fracture.
A Thomas splint, (check it fits, by trying on the well leg) is applied. Three flannel slings are secured by safety pins under the thigh. The "Master splint" is the one under the fracture. The correct tension on this sling will align the fracture in the lateral plane. The knee can be flexed by using a Pearson flexion splint attached to the Thomas splint at the knee. The desired knee flexion can be maintained by a rope at its end leading from the Thomas splint to the Pearson attachment. Ropes from the Denham pin can either be tied distally to the Thomas splint (static traction) or they can be led over a pulley on the end of the Balkan frame (dynamic Traction) In either case start with 7 kg ( or 10% body weight) in the long axis of the femur. This opposes the pull of the thigh muscles. As with the child, the traction is made balanced by a system of pulleys on the horizontal limb of the Balkan frame to allow the patient to move his limb. A "monkey chain" hung above the arms also allows the patient to transfer himself onto a bedpan. as he moves in the bed.
the information regarding cord threading is incorrect. An "inner under, outer over"" method should be used to promote internal rotation or in other words prevent external rotation.
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