Broken bones in the conflict were put back together using these odd-looking external splints. The idea is they can be adjusted while the bone is knitting. It was quite common to see them. After I'd been back home in San Francisco for a couple of years I saw a guy walking down the street with one. I asked him what the deal was and he explained the bone needed to be stretched as it healed. So I guess they are used in the US also. This guy was wounded by a large-caliber bullet in Srebrenica and had walked out thru the woods for medical care.