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Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Thomas' right knee splint, 1901-1920
Originally used for hip diseases, the Thomas-type splint was designed to keep the leg still if it was broken. It could be used for single and multiple fractures. Invented some years before the conflict by Hugh Owen Thomas (1834–1891), a pioneering British orthopaedic surgeon, the splint was used widely during the First World War.
It is made from iron and has a leather padded ring for the top of the thigh. Thomas-type splints were ideally used shortly after the injury had occurred and they greatly reduced the death rate from fractures.
Details
- Category:
- Orthopaedics
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A603123
- Materials:
- frame, iron, painted black, foot rest, iron, painted black and padding, leather
- Measurements:
-
overall: 875 mm x 260 mm, 230 mm, 1.4 kg
- type:
- thomas splint
