A Brief Overview of the Evolution of Splints and Casts in Medical History, Specifically Persian Medicine

Fixing a broken limb has been a concern of humans for thousands of years. They have used different methods, devices, and combinations to do this. This study deals with the two hypotheses of the ancient use of the delayed splint method and the use of Plaster of Paris material in Persian Medicine.

This narrative-analytical review is based on the documentation of authentic books of Persian Medicine, such as Liber Continents and the Canon of Medicine, data from databases such as PubMed and Scopus, and search engines such as Google Scholar, to find information from other civilizations as well as Persian Medicine.

The documentation reveals a global exchange of medical knowledge, with the fixation of broken limbs starting in Egypt and spreading to India, China, and Greece. In the 7th century AD, this knowledge reached Iran, where medical scholars, in their keen observation, extracted techniques from this wealth of knowledge. The renowned delayed splint technique, credited to Rhazes (865-925 AD), and the use of Plaster of Paris, as evidenced in the writings of Hakim Abu Mansour Movafagh Heravi (10th century AD), are just a few examples of the innovative methods developed in this medical school.

A careful study of ancient books will sometimes reveal traces of the use of today's techniques in the past. Although their report is focused on contemporary centuries and a new method has been introduced, their use has been recorded in past centuries. For instance, the delayed splint technique, named after George Keynes (1892-1979), and the application of Plaster of Paris, named after Antonius Mathijsen in 1852, was introduced in orthopedic science. This makes it necessary to search and analyze past medical books in various branches of modern medical knowledge to correctly teach the older ones and preserve the identity of medical schools.