BACKGROUND Surgical management of fractured ribs with internal fixation is an increasingly accepted therapy. Concurrently, specific rib fixation prostheses are being developed which should improve results and minimise hardware and rib/splint construct failures. The Synthes titanium intramedullary splint lends itself to difficult to access areas such as posterior rib fractures and fractures unde...

552 O ccupational and physical therapists are often concerned with maintaining joint range of motion in children with neurological impairment. The presence of spastic posturing may be a serious problem that limits activities of daily living and qual ity of movement. Traditional therapy techniques include passive range of motion exercises, active exercises, positioning, and neurodevelopmental tr...

Sixty patients with mallet finger deformity were randomly treated with either a Stack or a custom-made padded aluminium alloy malleable finger splint. Both splints were equally effective in correcting the deformity but the aluminium alloy splint was able to be fitted to a wider variety of finger shapes and sizes and caused significantly fewer skin complications.

We report a simple, effective method of managing displaced unilateral condylar fractures with occlusal disruption using vacuum-formed thermoplastic foil splints with bonded wire cleats. The cleats enable intermaxillary fixation in the form of orthodontic elastics to be used, which guide then maintain the occlusion in centric relation. A case is presented in which this technique was used success...

Helical keloids are difficult to treat as surgical excision requires effective compression of the operative scar to prevent recurrence while retaining the contour and elasticity of the helix. The authors fabricated a conforming custom made post-operative splint from a commonly used dental material. Splints could be fabricated in both pre-operative and post-operative stage.