Positioning splint instead of plaster

Together with Dr. med. Martin Jordan, DARCO developed the positioning splint / plaster replacement DARCO Posterior Splint / Plus. As a respected specialist in orthopaedics and trauma surgery and an expert on the FOCUS list of doctors, he considered a practical and time-saving alternative to conventional plastering as important.

What made you decide to develop the DARCO Posterior Splint together with DARCO as a partner?

A large variety of surgeries in the foot and ankle area require immobilisation of the treated region while the patient is still in the operating theatre. The plaster system mainly used in the operating theatre up to now is time-consuming and personnel-intensive. This situation gave rise to the idea of working with DARCO as a partner to develop a prefabricated, optimally anatomically shaped positioning splint that is easy to apply for both therapist and patient.

Which features were particularly important to you?

The objective for such a positioning splint was optimal patient comfort and protection of the foot and ankle, as well as manufacture of a quality product without higher costs than with plaster care.

Increasing efficiency is an important topic in the operating theatre as well. How much time can you save compared to conventional plaster dressing?

The dressing alone, inclusive bandage and padding, can be applied by one person in less than one minute. This means an advantage of several minutes per surgery. It is easy to see what a gain this can mean for one day of surgery or one year.

Do you see any other advantages?

The DARCO Posterior Splint offers the great advantage of having high dimensional stability and therefore not needing to be readjusted. For the practice and the operating theatre, where storage space is often limited, the space-saving storage is particularly worth mentioning.

We learned about the advantages in the OR. Do you see advantages for the patient as well?

The positioning splint is very lightweight and therefore comfortable for the patient to wear. Another advantage is the hygienic and easy-care surfaces.

Is the DARCO Posterior Splint used only in the postoperative area?

No, the DARCO Posterior Splint is used just as much in the field of conservative therapy for foot and ankle disorders where temporary immobilisation is indicated. These can be, for example, fresh bone fractures or higher-degree ligament or tendon injuries.

For which indications / surgeries is the DARCO Posterior Splint used?

There are two variants: A standard version and an Achilles tendon version with 20° of plantar flexion. The latter is used after surgery in the area of the heel and the Achilles tendon. The standard version is used for many indications from the rearfoot to the mid-forefoot, e.g. after a flat foot straightening or a lapidus arthrodesis.

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