Stretch bed

Stretch bed according to Jean-André Venel

A stretch bed is an orthopedic device.

It consists of a bed with a mattress, on which there are devices by means of which the curved body is kept in the direction for a while by pulling on the head, neck, pelvis or feet, possibly also by means of pressure, for example from the side it is supposed to be taken to remove certain bends or stretch certain shortened muscles or tendons, etc. In surgery , stretching beds are only used in fresh and subacute cases, particularly in the case of broken legs of the lower extremities, inflammation of the joints, resections, etc., but here with the most blessed and blatant success. For outdated cases, curvatures of the spine and thorax, the use of stretching beds has almost entirely been abandoned.

The principle is still important today. Adolescent patients with severe scoliosis are stretched with a halo fixator (while seated) before spondylodesis .

Web links

• Stretch bed . In: Herders Conversations-Lexikon . Freiburg im Breisgau 1857, Volume 5, p. 355 (zeno.org)
• Stretch bed . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 15, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 384.