A Self-Made, Reusable, and Adjustable Device for Making Burr Hole Bone Plugs: Doing More with Less

Burr hole craniotomy is a daily procedure in neurosurgery. Defects after burr hole craniotomies will not spontaneously heal and can result in skin dents and cosmetic dissatisfaction. We have introduced a self-made, reusable, and adjustable bone plug packer to use in the repair of burr holes via packing of autologous bone dust. Our bone plug packer is free of charge and can be readily available in neurosurgical operating rooms.

We have produced a stainless steel bone packer device that can be assembled without the use of a special wrench. The instrument consists of a container plate and a main cylinder for packing, in which an adjustable airtight piston is placed to compress the bone dust and create a bone plug of the desired dimensions.

Some recent studies have shown that burr holes filled by autologous bone dust will result in good cosmetic and osteogenic outcomes. Although we did not perform a long-term follow-up assessment of the burr holes filled with bone plugs, in the short term, we have not seen any local reactions or infections in our patients. The autologous bone plug is a more affordable and available option with no technical or clinical complications in the short term.

We have introduced a practical, convenient, and cost-effective bone packer device. Bone plugs formed using our device can be a potential substitute for expensive covering materials in countries with limited access to other repair options. Providing proper evidence will require the performance of large studies to assess our suggested method in the long term and, possibly, compare it with the usual options in controlled studies.