Arm Sling

Abstract

The arm sling comprises upper and lower loop or strap portions joined together to form a generally figure-eight configuration. The upper loop includes a padding comprised of a plastic foam material encased within a fabric stockinet, the padding being adapted to bear against the nape of the patient's neck. The lower loop includes a padding of plastic foam material encased within a fabric stockinet. A pair of fabric straps are provided on the lower loop padding and threadedly receive the lower strap portion to retain the lower padding in adjustable position therealong. A buckle is provided for adjusting the length of both the upper and lower loop strap portions.

Description

This invention relates to an improved surgical arm sling and particularly relates to an improved arm sling which is easy to apply, readily adjustable, comfortable, washable and therefore readily sterilized, and which effectively holds the patient's arm in the proper position.

Various types of surgical arm slings have been proposed and constructed over the years. Probably the most familiar type of arm sling, commonly referred to as an envelope sling, comprises a triangular-folded cloth or bandage which is secured behind the neck of the patient by joining the free ends thereof as by a knot and which depends to support the patient's arm. The pressure of the knot on the patient's neck, the inability of the sling to be readily adjusted, the fact that the knot often becomes untied permitting the injured arm to drop, and the fact that the sling cannot be readily and easily donned by the patient are but a few of the inadequacies of this type of sling.

In an effort to overcome these and other problems, various types of arm slings have been proposed and constructed. Several of these have employed an arcuate metal piece which is located over the patient's shoulder to thereby provide a contoured shoulder support for the arm. Others provide an arcuate metal piece suspended in front of the patient to provide a contoured seat in which the patient's arm rests. One known-type sling provides a pair of such arcuate metal pieces connected together to form a combination contoured over the shoulder and arm support. These metal parts, however, are most uncomfortable, particularly where padding is not also employed. Moreover, slings employing such arcuate metal parts lack the comfort and adjustability of a fully flexible arm sling, for example, one comprised solely of a fabric material. Another type of arm sling comprises a canvas strap having loops at both ends through which the wrist and forearm portions of the patient's arm are received, the strap extending about the nape of the patient's neck providing the requisite support. This type of strap has also proved somewhat uncomfortable and is easily moved out of the proper position.

In general, it has been found that existing arm slings suffer from one or more disadvantages. Particularly, certain of the conventional arm slings cannot be donned by the patient himself without assistance and this most often means that a doctor or nurse must be available. Certain of the present day slings are not readily adjustable and sometimes a variety of slings must be donned in order to obtain a sling which will fit properly. The present day slings are generally uncomfortable as their strap, metal portions, buckles and the like tend to bear against the patient's body, thereby causing chafing and discomfort. Additionally, certain existing slings resulting from efforts to solve the foregoing discussed problems have proved somewhat complicated and expensive to manufacture.

The present invention provides an improved surgical sling which minimizes the above discussed and other shortcomings of prior arm slings and provides various advantages in construction, mode of use, and result over such prior arm slings. To accomplish this, the present invention provides an arm sling formed of fabric straps arranged to comprise upper and lower loop portions generally forming a figure eight. Forming a part of the upper loop portion is a padding of plastic foam material enclosed in a fabric stockinet whereby the upper loop portion can be located about the patient's neck. A padding of fabric encased foam material also forms a part of the lower loop portion. The lower padding also has a pair of spaced fabric straps formed at its underside for threadedly receiving the strap portion of the lower loop portion whereby the padding can be adjusted along the strap portion to provide a cushioned seat for receiving the patient's arm. By providing the flexible foam material in both loop portions as well as by forming the sling of flexible fabric strap material, the portions of the sling which bear against the patient's body are fully padded thereby optimizing the weight distribution of the arm and sling over the widest possible area and providing a comfortable cushioned fit.

It is a feature hereof that the patient may don the sling himself without other assistance. This is accomplished by forming the sling to a substantially figure-eight configuration whereby the upper loop portion may be readily slipped about the patient's neck by use of his other arm thereby automatically positioning the lower loop portion of the sling in front of the patient ready to receive his arm. The lower loop portion can then be positioned about the patient's injured arm by his other arm. An adjustable buckle is provided in the upper loop portion to facilitate application of the upper loop portion directly over the patient's head. The upper loop portion can thus be selectively adjusted in length as to be applicable directly over the head regardless of head size or hands. Additionally a buckle is provided in the lower loop portion whereby the length thereof can be readily adjusted even when the sling is in position supporting the patient's arm. In this manner, the proper arm position can be readily achieved by selective manipulation of the strap through the buckle. Note that the threaded reception of the lower strap portions through the fabric straps permits adjustment of the lower padding along the lower strap portion whereby the lower padding can be located in proper position to receive the arm regardless of the adjusted length of the lower loop portion.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved surgical arm sling which is comfortable to wear and which is provided with padding at the pressure points.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved surgical arm sling which can be readily donned by the patient himself without requiring external assistance.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved surgical arm sling wherein the level of the arm can be readily and easily adjusted.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved surgical arm sling which is readily washable and sterilized for reuse.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an improved surgical arm sling which can be readily and easily manufactured at low cost, which is formed of conventionally available materials, and which can be used interchangeably as a collar and cuff sling and a long arm cast sling.

These and further objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification, appended claims and drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an arm sling constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and shown applied to a patient;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the arm sling hereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the intermediate portion of the sling and illustrating the adjusting buckle therefor; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the intermediate portion of the sling.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown an arm sling, generally indicated at 10, preferably comprised of a continuous fabric strap arranged generally in the form of a figure eight and having upper and lower loop portions 12 and 14, respectively. Portions of the continuous strap forming the loop portions 12 and 14 are joined together in back-to-back relation at the central portion of the figure eight generally indicated at 16 by stitching through the overlapping strap portions. Identical upper and lower buckles 17 and 18 respectively are provided the associated upper and lower strap portions 12 and 14 whereby the latter are adjustable in length. Since the buckles 17 and 18 are identical, the following description of the lower buckle is believed sufficient to describe both buckles, the various parts of the upper and lower buckles being identified by the letter reference U and L respectively following the corresponding numeral reference. As seen in FIG. 3, the lower buckle 18 comprises a rectangular shackle 20 having side bars 22L which slidably mount a cinching member 24L. One end of shackle 20L comprises a locking bar 26L which has a serrated or roughened inner edge indicated at 28L. Buckle 18L includes a clasp 30L having a reversely bent lip or catch 32L which, together with the body portion of clasp 30L, defines an opening beneath lip 32L for receiving the end bar 34L of shackle 20L. The opening is preferably slightly smaller than the diameter of end bar 34L such that the latter must be snapped past the opening whereby shackle 20L and clasp 30L can be releasably fastened one to the other. The opposite end of clasp 30L is slotted as at 36L to receive a looped portion of the continuous strap as will be described.

Referring now to FIG. 2, neck padding 40 comprises an elongated rectangular block of padding material 42 preferably a plastic foam material, encased within a fabric stockinet 44. The ends of the stockinet 44 are gathered about strap portion 12 at opposite ends of block 42 and a pair of fabric strips 46 are folded about the gathered ends of the stockinet and the strap portions thereat, the strips 46 being stitched along their edges to each other and to the stockinet and strap portions to encase the foam material 42. The upper loop strap portion 12 extends through neck padding 40 between the stockinet 44 and foam material 42 on the rear or outer side of the latter and it will be seen that neck padding 40 is thus fixed in position along upper loop portion 12 and at a position therealong substantially opposite intermediate fastening strap 16.

An arm or wrist padding, generally indicated at 48, is provided lower loop portion 14 and comprises an elongated block of padding material, preferably a plastic foam material, encased within a fabric stockinet 49. A pair of spaced fabric straps are sewn at opposite ends to the stockinet 49 forming a pair of spaced loops on the underside of padding 48 to receive the lower strap portion 14. The ends of stockinet 49 are tucked in about the ends of the padding 48. The lower strap portion 14 engages about the underside of padding 48 and threads though the loops 50. Note that, with this type of securement between arm or wrist padding 48 and lower strap portion 14, padding 48 can be selectively located along lower strap portion 14 as desired.

To arrange the single continuous strap comprising the upper and lower loop portions in a manner as to form arm sling 10, the strap (FIG. 2) is inserted through shackle 20L from its underside, reversely folded about cinching bar 24L and threaded between cinching bar 24L and rear bar 26L to terminate in a free end 19. The strap extends from the lower buckle 18 along the underside of wrist padding 48 and through the loops 50 as previously described and extends to central portion 16. The strap then passes through the slot 36L (FIG. 4) of lower buckle 18 and extends a short distance whereupon it is reversely folded as at 52 to extend for a like distance in the reverse direction and is again reversely folded as at 54 to extend through the slot 36U of upper clasp 30U. There is thus formed three layers A, B and C of strap at central portion 16 which are stitched together one to the other as at 56, the outer layers A and C forming a pair of loops to retain the respective clasps 30U and 30L at central portion 16. The strap extends from central portion 16 and passes through neck padding 40 as previously described. The opposite end portion of the strap engages through the upper shackle 20U from the underside and is reversely folded about cinching bar 24U and threaded between cinching bar 24U and rear bar 26U to terminate in a free end 60.

In use, upper loop portion 12 is adjusted in length as to be comfortably received over a patient's head and is then disposed about the patient's neck such that neck padding 40 is located about the nape of the patient's neck with the lower loop portion 14 depending in front of the patient. The length of the neck padding 48 is sufficient to accommodate lengthwise adjustment of the upper loop portion 12 and still engage about the nape of the patient's neck when worn. The lower end of the strap can then be threaded through shackle 20L of buckle 18, if not already threaded therethrough. The length of the lower loop portion can then be adjusted such that the lower portion thereof is located at the proper height for maintaining the patient's arm in a level position. If the adjustment in length of the lower strap portion 14, in order to provide support for the arm at the proper position, locates arm padding 48 at a position other than directly below and underlying the patient's arm, it will be seen that arm padding 48 can be readily displaced along lower strap portion 14 to thus locate it in proper position underlying the patient's arm. Note further that when the padding 48 is properly located, the patient's arm or wrist rests or bears against the central portion of the padding which, in turn, bears against the underlying supporting strap whereby the arm is cushioned by the padding.

When the sling is finally adjusted and in proper position as seen in FIG. 1, it will be appreciated that paddings 40 and 48 provide cushioning at the pressure points thereby affording a comfortable fit. It is a further feature hereof that by providing a half twist to the upper strap portion between the fastener strap 16 and one end of neck padding 40, the upper strap portion 12 lies substantially flat against the patient's chest whereby the bearing pressure is again distributed over the widest possible area.

Furthermore, by providing an arm sling formed substantially of a combination fabric and plastic foam material, it will be seen that the sling is readily washable and hence effectively sterilized. Thus, the arm sling hereof can be employed many times over. Moreover, the sling can be economically manufactured as the fabric, foam and stockinet materials are readily commercially available at minimum cost.

Thus, the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing descriptions and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore to be embraced therein.

Claims

I claim:

1. An arm sling comprising a first fabric loop portion adapted to encompass a patient's neck, a second fabric loop portion depending from said first mentioned loop portion for disposition in front of the patient's body and forming a generally figure-eight configuration with said first loop portion, said first loop portion including flexible padding therealong for bearing about the nape of the patient's neck, said second loop portion including flexible padding located therealong for providing a cushion support for the patient's arm, each of said paddings including an elongated block of foam material enclosed within a fabric envelope, and means for adjusting the length of said loop portions independently of one another and including a buckle for each of said loop portions releasably joining adjacent strap portions of the associated loop portion.

2. An arm sling according to claim 1 whereby said loop portions comprise a single continuous fabric strap.

3. An arm sling according to claim 1 wherein one of said paddings is adjustably carried by its associated loop portion for movement to selected positions therealong.

4. An arm sling according to claim 1 wherein one of said loop portions includes a fabric fastener sewn to opposite ends of said fabric envelope and to the fabric strap portions of said one loop portion.

5. An arm sling according to claim 1 wherein the lower loop portion includes fabric fastening means sewn to the associated fabric envelope adjacent opposite ends thereof and forming a pair of loops with said envelope, said loops slideably receiving said lower loop portion whereby said lower padding is slideably adjustable along said lower strap into selected positions.

6. An arm sling according to claim 1 wherein said loop portions comprise a single continuous fabric strip, said strip being sewn together at the juncture of the loop portions of generally figure-eight configuration.

7. An arm sling according to claim 1 wherein one of said buckles includes means for opening its associated loop portion without affecting the extent of the other of said loop portions.