PLATE XIII. JENKS'S FRACTURE-BED "Is composed of two upright posts about six feet high, supported each by a pedestal; of two horizontal bars, at the top, somewhat longer than a common bedstead; of a windlass of the same length placed six inches below the upper bar; of a cog-wheel and handle; of linen belts, from six to twelve inches wide; of straps secured at one end of the windlass, and at the other having hooks attached to corresponding eyes in the linen belts; of a head-piece made of netting; of a piece of sheet iron twelve inches long, and hollowed out to fit and surround the thigh; of a bed-pan, box and cushion to support it, and of some other minor parts. "The patient lying on his mattress, and his limb surrounded by the apparatus of Desault, Hagedorn, or any other that may be preferred, the surgeon, or any common attendant, will only find it requisite to pass the linen belts beneath his body [attaching them to the hooks on the ends of the straps, and adjusting the whole at the proper distance and length, so as to balance the body exactly], and raise it from the mattress by turning the handle of the windlass. While the patient is thus suspended, the bed can be made up, and the fæces and urine evacuated. To lower the patient again, and replace him on the mattress, the windlass must be reversed. The linen belts may then be removed, and the body brought in contact with the sheet."-Gibson's Surgery, vol. i. p. 320. PLATE XIV. JOHN SYNG DORSEY'S PATELLA SPLINT. Fig. 1. This apparatus consists of a piece of wood half an inch thick and two or three inches wide, and long enough to extend from the buttock to the heel; near the middle of this splint, and six inches apart, two bands of strong doubled muslin, a yard long, are nailed. The splint is then cushioned, and the limb being laid upon it, a roller being first applied from the ankle to the groin, encompassing the knee in the form of the figure of 8; after which the two muslin bands are secured across the knee in such a manner as that the lower one shall draw down the upper fragment and the upper one elevate the lower fragment.-Dorsey's Surgery, vol. i. E. K. SANBORN'S MODE OF DRESSING A FRACTURED PATELLA. Fig. 2. Represents the limb covered with a broad band of adhesive plaster lifted into a loop over the knee. Fig. 3. Represents the band of adhesive plaster secured in place by a roller, while the loop is being drawn together by torsion. Underneath the plaster, and just above the upper fragment of the patella, a compress is placed to aid the adjustment.-Boston Med. and Surg Journal, vol. liv. p. 174.-See Report, p. 339. Fig. 4. THE AUTHOR'S MODE OF DRESSING A FRACTURED PATELLA. a. Bed. b. Floor of splint. e. Foot-piece, furnished with fenestra through which straps may be passed to secure the foot, and with pins on each margin. d. Single inclined plane fastened to the foot-piece at any height by means of a hook dropped over the pins. e, e. Cushion: thicker under the knee than at either end. f. Roller to secure leg and thigh to the inclined plane: not completely applied. g. Adhesive plasters laid over a compress and crossed under the splint. Those from above pass through a notch in the splint below the knee. h, h. Ends of the compresses, seen from under the adhesive plasters.— See Report, pp. 340, 341. |