Orthopaedic appliance for use in treating acromioclavicular joint injuries

For use in treating acromioclavicular joint injuries, a splint comprising:

• a connector pad,
• a pair of elongated clavicle straps connected at a common location to said pressure pad and diverging therefrom in a generally V-shaped manner,
• a pair of elongated pads extending lengthwise of said straps for a portion of their lengths,
• an auxiliary strap having a loop for slidably receiving one of said clavicle straps,
• complementary means on said pair of clavicle straps and said auxiliary strap loop for releasably fastening said auxiliary strap to a selected one of said clavicle straps at selected adjusted positions,
• means on said connector pad for releasably securing said clavicle straps thereto while affording lengthwise adjustment thereof relative to said connector pad, and
• means on said auxiliary strap to afford tensioning thereof between upper and lower portions of said one clavicle strap when applied to a patient.

For use in treating a patient having an acromioclavicular joint injury wherein the distal end of the patient's clavicle is out of its normal position with respect to the underlying acromion, a splint comprising:

• a connector pad adapted to be placed against the patient's spinal column below the base of the neck,
• a pair of clavicle straps diverging from said connector pad and having upper portions adapted to extend forwardly over both clavicles and having lower portions extending under both axillae and returning to said connector pad,
• means adjustably connecting said lower portions of said straps to said connector pad, and
• an elongated strip of radio-opaque marker material carried lengthwise by each of said clavicle straps,
• whereby the strips of marker material assist in observing the zones of pressure application by the splint.

A method of treating a patient having an injured acromioclavicular joint, comprising the steps of:

• disposing at least one pad over the distal end of the patient's clavicle,
• engaging against said pad the upper run of a clavicle strap to apply downward pressure to the distal end of said clavicle,
• engaging under the patient's axilla the lower run of the clavicle strap to apply upward and inward pressure to the patient's acromion,
• tensioning said upper and lower runs of said clavical strap, and
• pulling said upper and lower runs of said clavicle strap toward one another along the patient's back adjacent to the acromioclavicular joint undergoing treatment to form a noose for applying directly to the acromioclavicular joint a desired amount of pressure in said upward and downward directions during healing.

A splint comprising:

• a connector pad adapted to be placed against a patient's spinal column below the base of the neck,
• a pair of clavicle straps diverging from said connector pad and having upper portions adapted to extend forwardly over both clavicles and having lower portions extending under both axillae and returning to said connector pad,
• means adjustably connecting said lower portions of said straps to said connector pad, and
• an elongated strip of radio-opaque marker material carried lengthwise by at least one of said clavicle straps,
• whereby the strip of marker material enables a treating practitioner to use X-ray procedures for observing zones of pressure applied by the splint.