Buddy strap no more

It’s called Zimfoam.

That malleable strip of aluminium with blue foam on one side.

Every emergency department has it, usually in the back of a cupboard in the procedure room.

All of us have played with it (I’ve seen constructions with plaster, sleek tape and crepe) none of us have ever been really sure how to use it. The ED literature on it is pretty scarce.

After a talk from our plastic surgeons and further chats with their hand therapist who actually reviews all these finger injuries in clinic, this is how they use it.

Stick this poster on that cupboard (now called the finger cupboard) and start your patients finger rehab a week earlier.

(PS: you can still buddy strap but that’s really only for collateral ligament sprains)

Additional Resources

• Spaso Breaks his silence – Spaso Miljesic reduction and immobilisation techniques
• Plaster, Fibreglass and Splints – Dan Smith plaster tips and tricks
• Simon and Neil get plastered – Backslabs, splints, CAM boots and Darco shoes
• A better way to get plastered – Plaster Template PDF Resources
• Getting a leg over – Lower limb plaster techniques
• Buddy strap no more – Management of dorsal and volar phalangeal fracture

Vimeo showcase

• Paediatric guide to fracture management
• Plaster, Fibreglass and Splints
• Spaso reductions and immobilisation

Further reading

• The therapeutic clunk
• FARES method (shoulder reduction)
• Spaso technique (shoulder reduction)
• Cunningham method (shoulder reduction)
• Abraham Colles and the Colles fracture (1814)
• Robert William Smith and the Smith fracture (1847)

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