Page 158 - ASOP ROT Study Guide

6. IMMEDIATE MANAGEMENT

6.1 Pain Relief
This may be achieved in two ways.
♦ Use of pain-killing drugs.
Strong pain-killing injections of morphine or pethidine are usually necessary.
♦ Splintage (a splint is a device which holds a fracture steady).

http://www.usatoday.com/stor
y/sports/nba/pacers/2014/08/0
2/paul-george-surgery-
compound-fracture-tibia-
fibula-team-usa/13505781/

FIGURE. EXAMPLES OF SIMPLE SPLINTS APPROPRIATE IN FIRST AID AND AS INITIAL

TREATMENT IN HOSPITAL.
A splint (Figure 14) can be applied to most fractures before arriving at hospital. This alone can
relieve pain. In general a splint should encompass the joint above and below an injury. Simple
expedients such as binding the arm to the chest, with or without a sling, or simply binding the legs
together are often sufficient.
Even in the Accident and Emergency department, splints may be simple; for example two bits of
wood knocked together with nails and then padded may be used in an emergency as a splint. The
splint may need to be removed for definitive examination and radiographs, but repeated removal for
innumerable doctors to examine the injured person should be avoided as this simply compounds the
discomfort.
An alternative to splintage is traction, which may be used early in treatment to relieve muscle
spasm, which is a major component of post-fracture pain. This is particularly useful for fractures