The need of a simple method of applying an old principle in the treatment of fractured neck of the femur is the reason for presenting a splint which is particularly valuable for use in the outlying districts of small cities distant from big surgical centers.
A surgeon practicing in a small town is frequently called into the country for a case of this kind and is confronted with the problem of giving his patient a satisfactory method of treatment without the appliances which a larger city affords.
In cities where assistants are at hand, large hospitals are convenient, and Roentgen-ray specialists can be secured, the abduction method maintained by a plaster-of-Paris splint, as advocated by Dr. Royal Whitman, is, of course, the ideal one.
A proper application of plaster of Paris, however, necessitates three or four assistants and an apparatus. This is obviously impossible in small communities.
Nor are the