How is traction (to treat bone fractures) being used in this instance?
A picture on page B1 of Friday’s New York Times has a caption
that begins "Leidi Cardenas, 8 years old, with both legs broken
and one in traction…" She is seen lying on her back, her right
leg in a cast that appears to go at least from the toes up to
the knee. A sheet obscures the rest of the leg, which is lying
flat on the bed. Her left leg, however, is suspended by a sling
around the calf such that the thigh is maintained in a vertical
position. Thigh and knee are =bare=, but there might be a cast on
the foot, though it’s difficult to see for sure. Calf is
obscured by the sling.
To the this layman, traction is usually associated with a cast,
so the photo rated a double-take. At the library, an orthopedic
dictionary, under the heading "Traction," identified, among
other types, "90-90" traction, used to treat "femoral
fractures," but was otherwise uninformative.
In article <8…@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> pac…@chrpserv.gsfc.nasa.gov (Charles Packer) writes:
>How is traction (to treat bone fractures) being used in this instance?
>Her left leg, however, is suspended by a sling
>around the calf such that the thigh is maintained in a vertical
>position. Thigh and knee are =bare=, but there might be a cast on
Traction is not necessarily related to casting. Traction refers
to a continuous pulling, or force exerted along the axis of an
injured or suspected injured member to maintain proper relationship
of the structures at the injury site. Traction for a suspected neck
or back injury is applied at the head, by grasping the jaw and the
back of the head and pulling upward. Traction for a leg injury
is applied by grasping the foot and pulling downward, away from the
body. The reason this is done for a leg or hip fracture is that
the muscles of the leg tend to contract, and draw the broken bone
ends past each other, causing tissue injury and making the healing
process difficult, as well as resulting in a shortened leg.
In the case you describe, the left leg is the one under traction,
with the sling providing the tension on the leg. Casts are used
to immobilize injuries and protect them, but traction is provided
from outside.
Disclaimer: this is a layman’s description, using layman’s terms.
An MD would probably phrase it differently.