SIGN Surgical Database Blog

Creating Equality of Fracture Care Worldwide

2008 Conference

Posted on September 8, 2007 by emekamadu, under 2008 Conference.

Sept 18 to 20th would be a nice time for the conference. Hopefully the weather should be good then and airfares may be xheaper than August.

If possible I would like more sawbones workshops especially on the Ilizarof techinique. I also notice that there is no training video for humerus nailing. It would be good if this were included in the workshop so we could have a standard approach.

My hospital does not yet have an Ilizarof frame but I’m interested in learning the technique as we hope to acquire one soon.

Yes I use flaps fairly frequently for open fracture wound coverage.

NoI have not used vacuum suction for open wounds yet.

We have designed a one piece drape that is sterilisable to cover our power drill. Its tied with a purse string at both ends after inserting the drill.

Christian Madubueze

1 Comment

2008 SIGN Conference

Posted on September 6, 2007 by LEW ZIRKLE, under 2008 Conference.

Sawbones WorkshopSIGN Shop TourSawbones WorkshopSawbones Workshop

Dear friends

Thank you for the many nice comments you wrote about the 2007 SIGN conference. We want to begin thinking about next year’s conference as well as how to use the information we learned this year. Please comment on the following:

· Is September 18, 19 and 20, 2008 a good time for the next SIGN conference?

· What aspects of the conference do you want to repeat?

· Do you incorporate Ilizarov in your practice? — acute fractures, correction of deformities, limb lengthening, bone loss nonunions, infected nonunions? Do you feel there is a place to incorporate the SIGN nail and Ilizarov for correction of bony deformities? If so we should start a protocol.

· Do you do flaps as part of your treatment for open fractures?

· Do you use wound suction for large open wounds? Would you be willing to join a study as proposed by Dr. Karl Alsey?

· Do you have ideas about coverage for commercial drills used in SIGN surgeries?

· Please give us any other ideas you may have.

We can all help our patients by sharing our ideas
Best regards,

Lew

No Comments

Difficult Humerus Fracture

Posted on June 15, 2007 by LEW ZIRKLE, under Difficult Fractures, Humerus Fractures.

When I fixed this fracture with a SIGN nail, the nail extended far into the distal humerus. This was very stable so no distal interlocking screws were placed. She had full elbow motion at the operating table. Here are my questions:

  • When is it necessary to do distal interlock for humerus fractures?
  • Have you noticed distraction of the fracture or rotational malalignment develop post-op?
  • Have any nails migrated into the joint when the nail is placed into what looks like the olecranon fossa?
  • Is the fin nail a better choice for humerus fractures?

Best regards,

Lew

PreopPostOp

2 Comments

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy

Posted on June 12, 2007 by LEW ZIRKLE, under Innovations.

Do you have ideas about this?  This will also be discussed at the SIGN conference.  See the  Events page above.

2 Comments

Maintaining Drill Sterility

Posted on June 12, 2007 by LEW ZIRKLE, under Innovations.

Experiments are underway using an oven bag and a device so that a commercial power drill can rotate and the drill bit be changed.  These are ongoing.  Results will be discussed at the SIGN conference.

1 Comment

Dull Drill Bits

Posted on June 12, 2007 by LEW ZIRKLE, under Problems with Instruments, Nails, and/or Screws..

Engineering experiments revealed that drill bits are not dulled by drilling through bone.  If the end of the drill bit hits another piece of metal, the drill bit heats up and becomes dull.

3 Comments