A reduction apparatus for femur fractures

The majority of femur fractures are closed fractures in the mid-third of the femoral shaft. A very well known fixation technique is the one using an intramedullary pin, which is inserted from the hip side. Open reduction of the fracture is mostly applied but the majority, between 85 and 93%, of the fractures are closed and therfore a more logical and safer technique would be closed reduction. However, this technique, also called blind-nailing, is more difficult. Besides an x-ray scanner with a monitor it also requires experience of the surgeon and some special tools to supply the necessary reduction forces to the proximal and distal parts of the femur. This publication describes a new designed reduction apparatus (1), that primarily simplifies blind-reduction of femur fractures, but can also be used for any other operation technique where a good grip on bones has to be provided with a minimum of tissue damage. The apparatus is designed to be used with standard Kirschner-wires and is easy to apply in combination with the existing operation techniques, and does not require special skill.