Cast/Brace Selection Calculator

Choosing between a cast, a splint, a walking boot, or a hinged brace follows common orthopedic practice patterns built around where the fracture is, how displaced it is, and whether surgery has already stabilized it. This calculator's device recommendation is read first from the body region -- upper-extremity injuries (finger through elbow) and lower-extremity injuries (ankle through foot) follow different device families entirely -- then refined by fracture severity and whether the injury is post-surgical, since hardware from an ORIF (open reduction internal fixation) procedure already provides internal stability that a primary, non-surgical fracture doesn't have. One adjustment applies across regions: elderly patients with a stable, non-post-surgical injury are shifted toward removable devices where clinically appropriate, trading some of a rigid cast's fixation for easier skin checks and a lower fall risk from a bulky, non-removable device.

Device SIZE, by contrast, is calculated independently from limb circumference alone, matched against general XS-XXL bands, so a small-framed adult and a large-framed adolescent needing the identical device type can still need very different sizes. Padding recommendations scale up for the youngest and oldest age categories and for more severely displaced fractures, reflecting thinner, more fragile skin at the extremes of age and more expected post-reduction swelling in significantly displaced injuries.