The study looked at 275 cases involving children and teenagers up to the age of 18 who were initially treated in community hospital emergency rooms and urgent care facilities in Maryland, then later evaluated by University of Maryland pediatric orthopaedic specialists.
"Splints are effective for immobilization of fractured extremities in children and adolescents when placed appropriately," says the presenting and senior author, Joshua M. Abzug, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "Unfortunately, many practitioners in emergency departments and urgent care settings incorrectly applied splints, potentially causing injury."
Dr. Abzug, who is also director of pediatric orthopaedics at the University of Maryland Medical Center, says improper splinting can result in excessive swelling, blisters and other skin complications, and poor immobilization of the fracture.
"As a result of our findings, we believe that healthcare professionals may need more extensive education and training on proper splinting techniques," says Dr. Abzug. He plans a follow-up study working with healthcare providers in emergency departments and urgent care centers on the correct way to apply splints.
Dr. Abzug co-authored the study with Brandon Schwartz, M.P.H., and Aaron Johnson, M.D., M.S., from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
A splint is made up of at least one strip of rigid material placed on the extremity, which is then wrapped with a soft padding followed by an elastic bandage to hold it in place. Splints are used by emergency departments and urgent care centers as a way to temporarily stabilize a possible fracture and decrease pain. After being splinted, patients are referred to an orthopaedic surgeon, who removes the splint for further evaluation.
The researchers found that the most common reason for improper placement of a splint was putting an elastic bandage directly on the skin, which occurred in 77 percent of the cases. In 59 percent of the cases, the joints were not immobilized correctly, and in 52 percent, the splint was not the appropriate length. Skin and soft-tissue complications were observed in 40 percent of the patients.
Broken bones are very common in children and adolescents, with nearly half of all boys and a quarter of all girls experiencing a fracture at some point before the age of 16. The patients in the study had a range of fractures affecting all extremities, including fingers, arms, ankles and knees.
"This research points out a significant problem in caring for pediatric fractures in emergency and urgent care settings," says E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "Our mission is to educate doctors and healthcare providers, and we look forward to working with them to correct this problem."
The researchers used a standardized questionnaire to get information, including the patient's demographics, type of splint, facility type, practitioner type and time from splint application to orthopaedic evaluation. The authors evaluated the splint and took photos before removing it, and observed any soft tissue complications that may have occurred. Two members of the pediatric orthopaedic team evaluated the splint for functional position, appropriate length and presence of an elastic bandage on the skin.
Dr. Abzug began his research after noticing that patients were coming to his office with improperly placed splints. "I observed a lot of cases where a splint was placed incorrectly, so instead of just making note of it, I wanted to be more rigorous in coming up with a way to possibly fix the problem," he explains, adding that healthcare providers may not have learned the correct way to apply splints.
"The real intent of this study is to avoid any major complications that could occur from an improperly placed splint," Dr. Abzug says. He says that parents who have a child with a splint should not ignore any concerns or pain the child is experiencing.
"If there is any question, get in to see an orthopaedist as quickly as possible. Any child complaining of pain away from the point of the fracture or experiencing swelling may have an improperly placed splint," he says. He notes that a splint can be on anywhere from a very short period of time to a couple of weeks.
As part of a follow-up study, Dr. Abzug is creating educational signs that he hopes will be placed around the emergency departments at community hospitals and in urgent care facilities. The signs would include photos of a correctly placed splint and instructions on how to apply a splint using all up-to-date guidelines.
"Everything we do, no matter how minor it may seem, needs to be done correctly," Dr. Abzug says.
INFORMATION:
About the University of Maryland School of Medicine
The University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 and is the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as an innovative leader in accelerating innovation and discovery in medicine. The School of Medicine is the founding school of the University of Maryland and is an integral part of the 11-campus University System of Maryland. Located on the University of Maryland's Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine works closely with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide a research-intensive, academic and clinically based education. With 43 academic departments, centers and institutes and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians and research scientists plus more than $400 million in extramural funding, the School is regarded as one of the leading biomedical research institutions in the U.S. with top-tier faculty and programs in cancer, brain science, surgery and transplantation, trauma and emergency medicine, vaccine development and human genomics, among other centers of excellence. The School is not only concerned with the health of the citizens of Maryland and the nation, but also has a global presence, with research and treatment facilities in more than 30 countries around the world. http://medschool.umaryland.edu/
About the University of Maryland Medical Center
The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) is comprised of two hospitals in Baltimore: an 800-bed teaching hospital – the flagship institution of the 12-hospital University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) – and a 200-bed community teaching hospital, UMMC Midtown Campus. UMMC is a national and regional referral center for trauma, cancer care, neurocare, cardiac care, diabetes and endocrinology, women's and children's health and physical rehabilitation and has one of the largest solid organ transplant programs in the country. All physicians on staff at the flagship hospital are faculty physicians of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. At UMMC Midtown Campus, faculty physicians work alongside community physicians to provide patients with the highest quality care. UMMC Midtown Campus was founded in 1881 and is located a mile away from the University Campus hospital.
