If you need a cast for a broken arm, to mend after knee surgery, or for another injury, you may wear it for several weeks or months. The cast keeps your bone or joint from moving so it can heal. But ...

CHICAGO -- The black Velcro bandage strapped on 3-year-old Ben Crotty's left arm looks like a Rollerblader's wrist guard, but it's really a mini medical milestone. It's today's answer to the cast.

As the remnants of the Spanish Loyalist Army, ragged and footsore, fled last year over the Pyrenees into France, over 10,000 wounded stumbled along with them. Their torn, broken arms or legs were ...