Not just pulling a finger. IDE Engineering Lab Explores Skin Traction Finger Fracture

The potential for non-invasive methods such as skin traction to help reduce fractures and allow early range of movement is of increasingly interest to doctors and physicians. If effective it can provide a lower risk model of care - without risks of infection, pin or hardware irritation, post-operative pain and restrictions of movement, However concerns with skin traction are the loss of traction force through slippage, not being able to measure traction force, safely secure traction, and a lack of studies exploring how much compression is provided to skin, or how much traction force is needed to reduce fractures.

I am grateful to IDE Engineering for helping explore and provide some fresh light on the biomechanics of skin traction, and how different constructs and materials perform.

Attached are four Engineering Lab articles exploring Skin Traction for your perusal. These are pre publication in peer reviewed journals, so I would ask you take them at face value, and hope they can benefit you.