Clinical Results of a Comparative Evaluation of Splinting Materials

A comprehensive evaluation which includes a clinical assessment by occupational therapists and students, as well as patient users, along with a laboratory testing program has been conducted on six low-temperature thermoplastic splinting materials. After constructing a palmar working splint or palmar resting splint, the therapists and students completed questionnaires. The patients receiving those splints constructed by the therapists completed separate questionnaires after wearing the splint for one week and four weeks. The analysis of the responses revealed a series of 'desirable characteristics ' for a preferred material. Although a satisfactory splint could be constructed from any of the materials, the concensus among the therapists and students showed that only two materials best satisfied the 'desirable charac-teristics ' criteria. In general, the patient responses indicated very little difference among the materials, with very few reported problems of cracking, breaking, tearing, bending, discolouration or stretching. A series of laboratory tests that should provide a profile for a prospective or existing material, has also been selected. Splinting for the purposes of correcting or improving a functional deficit, reducing pain, preventing or cor-recting a deformity or protecting the limb from injury, has become an accepted technique for the management of a variety of medical problems, including rheumatoid arthritis, neuropathies, burns, and the supplementation of surgical intervention. Various low temperature (less than 80°C) thermoplastic materials are used extensively for the fabrication of splints. A number of publications have appeared in the literature which describe the construction process for fabricating a particular splin