INTRODUCTION When the Ilizarov external fixator is used for fracture reduction and deformity correction, the planning for correction of 3-D multiple deformities is difficult due to the lack of information on required joint rotations and translations in order to correct the deformities [1]. In addition, if the rotational axis is not placed exactly with respect to axis of the deformity, the rotat...

Bone-FixES is an expert system currently under development to aid student and clinical practitioner decision making for construction of external skeletal fixation devices. External skeletal fixation devices (also called fixators) are used to secure broken bone segments during the healing process. For teaching, Bone-FixES will be used to provide feedback to students given a clinical scenario and...

Traditional methods of correcting malunited distal humeral fractures in children involve complex wedge osteotomies held with pins or internal fixation devices. These require a large exposure and challenging fixation. We elected to perform simple transverse osteotomies, without wedges, using a lateral incision. These were maintained by the small AO external fixator. Between 1987 and 2004, five c...

We present a retrospective study of 27 patients treated by callus distraction using a unilateral external fixator of our own design for nonunion with bone loss and shortening of the femur caused by suppurative osteomyelitis. The unilateral external fixator was used either alone or in combination with an intramedullary nail. The mean age of the patients was 13.6 years (8 to 18). The fixator was ...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to demonstrate that the lengthening technique of an external fixator associated with locked intramedullary nail is an efficient method that decreases the duration of the external fixation and improves the rehabilitation period. METHODS From January of 2005 to May of 2014, 31 patients with mean lower limb discrepancy of 5.31 cm were treated. The etiologies of the def...

BACKGROUND Pin tract infection is a common complication of external fixation. It usually heals after treatment with debridement, antibiotics, and/or pin removal, only rarely developing into delayed osteomyelitis. We treated two patients with delayed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus-induced osteomyelitis of the tibia following pin tract infection. CASE PRESENTATION One patient, a di...

Treatment outcomes were compared in two groups of children with femoral diaphyseal fractures which were treated with external fixation (20 fractures) or flexible intramedullary nailing (20 fractures). These 40 children were between 5.4 to 14.1 years of age. The duration of the operation averaged 52 minutes for the external fixator compared with 70 minutes for the flexible nail group. The time t...

INTRODUCTION Extra-focal or external fixation is the method of fracture fixation through the healthy part of the bone using pins or wires. OBJECTIVE The aim was to determine which external splints (Ortofix, Mitković, Charnley and Ilizarov) had the best biomechanical properties in primary stabilization of spiral, transverse and commutative bone fractures. METHODS To determine the investigati...

OBJECTIVE To assess the feasibility of using standard components from the small AO external fixator set to support fractures of the distal radius with a construct incorporating distal fixation in the periarticular radius fragment that would allow for primary mobilization of the wrist joint during fracture healing. METHODS In a prospective pilot study of a nonbridging external fixator in early...