3. Diachylon plaster.
4. Roller.
5. Lint and wool.
6. Two hooks or screws, gimlet, and screw-driver.
Step 1. The splint is first fitted; it should reach from the buttock to the heel, at which point a foot-piece rises for the foot to rest against; at the back of the splint a line should be marked 3 inches above, and another 3 inches below the knee-cap, into which a stout screw or hook is inserted before the splint is put on. It is then well padded, to support the calf and leg, while the heel is left free, and a pad is put between the sole and the foot-piece. A firm crescent-shaped pad is prepared to sit like a saddle above the upper fragment.
Step 2. The limb is laid on the splint; an assistant draws the patella as nearly as possible into its place, and the surgeon lays the crescentic pad on the thigh above the patella, and takes a strap of plaster 2 inches broad and 20 long, warms it, and lays the middle across the compress, drawing each end tightly around the limb, and then downwards and forwards in a figure of 8; a similar strap is then fixed below the lower fragment. The knee, shin, ankle, and foot are then protected by a layer of cotton wool, and the bandaging begins.
Step 3. The roller first fastens the foot against the foot-piece by figures of 8, then passes up the leg by reverses until opposite the lower hook, where it is fastened.
Fig. 46.—Fractured Patella, drawing down the upper fragment.
Step 4. A second roller is then begun at the top of the thigh and brought down the limb till it reaches the compress over the patella; from this point it passes below the lower screw at the back of the splint and makes one circular turn round the limb; the roller is then taken upwards across the compress (as shown in fig. 46) to the upper screw, where it also makes a circular turn; having done this it again descends to reach the lower screw, and is returned as before. Each of these turns should be drawn tightly to bring the upper fragment as near the lower one as possible; when this is done the bandage is completed over the knee by figures of 8. It suffices to fix the lower fragment, which cannot be drawn up to meet the upper one; the latter must descend to it.