Trends in Lower Limb Splinting by Canadian Occupational and Physical Therapists

Abstract

This article highlights the results of a survey which examined the distribution of lower limb splinting practices in selected occupational and physical therapy departments located in the same hospital, in January, 1977.

The responses yielded information on 72 (84%) of the 86 hospitals surveyed. The compiled data, therefore, provided a good indication of the distribution of the splinting practices for the two groups in question and represented a comprehensive collection of lower extremity splinting techniques by these professions.

The survey indicated that:

Both the occupational and physical therapy departments were involved in lower limb splinting; the former group, however, was more than twice as active as the latter.

Occupational therapists were using low temperature thermoplastics almost exclusively, whereas physical therapists preferred plaster of paris.

Many new techniques have been developed but few have been documented in occupational and physical therapy journals.

The implications of the study are that occupational therapists should make a greater effort to share current and newly-developed techniques through publications and should strive to maximize the quality and performance of their splints.