Principles and techniques of splinting musculocutaneous injuries

Splinting should be used as soon after a musculoskeletal injury as possible, and the splint should be maintained (in some form) until the injury is healed to the extent that protected limb function can be resumed without pain. This principle is the overriding guide to the appropriate pre-hospital management of these injuries. In the emergency department, the physician performs a careful physical examination, without removing the splint if possible, and takes the patient's history in order to arrive at an accurate diagnosis before the splinted patient is sent for x-ray evaluation.