Charles Bee, 72, broke his wrist after falling from a chair while doing some DIY at his home in Charlbury last September. However, rather than being fitted with a standard fibreglass cast, Mr Bee was asked to trial a new wooden cast as part of an NHS study.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI went to hospital, I had an x-ray which confirmed I broke my wrist and was given a fibreglass cast.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfterwards, I attended the fracture clinic at the John Radcliffe Hospital and I was asked if I wanted to try a new wooden splint as part of a clinical trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat made me want to take part in the trial, one pure and simple reason, was everybody should put themselves forward for us to move things on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s got to be people that are prepared to move things forward and this is one of the things I wanted to do because it looked lightweight and that was a major asset for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fibreglass is the most commonly used casting material in the UK for the treatment of broken wrists, however it is composed of non-biodegradable materials.<\/p>\n
Also, broken bones often become displaced as swelling reduces and rigid fibreglass casts sometimes need to be replaced every couple of weeks to account for this.<\/p>\n
The biodegradable wooden cast can be removed and remoulded when heated up, so does not need to be replaced with new material.<\/p>\n
The Woodcast study – supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) – is looking at whether the wooden cast is a comfortable alternative to a fibreglass cast for holding broken wrist bones in place.<\/p>\n
Patients attending the John Radcliffe Hospital were asked to take part in the University of Oxford study and were randomly allocated to receive either a fibreglass cast or the wooden cast, to compare the two.<\/p>\n
The grandfather-of-five said the wooden cast was a benefit to him, as it could be split along the middle making it removable when necessary.<\/p>\n
Mr Bee said: \u201cIt solved a problem. The splint being removable enabled me to take it off if needed and shower without it which for me personally was a big advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study\u2019s chief investigator at the University of Oxford\u2019s Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, Mr Stephen Gwilym, said: \u201cWoodcast has theoretical advantages in terms of patient comfort and environmental cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that Woodcast will improve comfort for patients, be more environmentally friendly through using recycled wood, and reduce treatment costs if it can be re-modelled for the duration of treatment rather than multiple cast applications.\u201d<\/p>\n