Ilizarov Equipment.

There are over 600 different ways of applying an Ilizarov Frame, the patients fracture and limb size will dictate the way the surgeon will apply the frame. Although there are only a few pieces of equipment that enable the technique. I will show some images of the various pieces of equipment with a brief explanation;

Ilizarov Ring's

This is the half ring that is built around the limb, you would attach another ring to the opposite side to form the full ring, note the indentation on the end's of the ring this were the other ring would lye within the other make a neat finish.

Types of Wire.

This is the Bayonet Wire, this wire would be used for the cortical aspect of bone. A Trocar Wire would be used for spongy bone. The recommended wire insertion technique would be to push the wire to the surface of the bone and then to start the drilling process, once into the medulla of the bone, feel for the wire surfacing the opposite side, then to use a hammer through the rest of the soft tissue.

The Olive Wire.

This is a wire that will only go through the bone so far due to the olive within the middle of the wire. This wire is used to manipulate segmented pieces of bone into position of the fractured area. It can also be used to pull proximal and distal fragments in line with each other so the bone can heal faster. This wire is machined down from the thickness of the olive, so the olive is secure within the whole wire it's self, if the olive was applied onto the wire, the risk is it would not be Strong enough to hold the bones from movement. The whole process of the producing the wire from the manufacturer makes it very expensive, one wire would range in the region of £36.

The Equipment tray.

This is how the equipment would be presented to the theatre from the auto-valet. What ever is used within the operation, it would be re-stocked whilst in theatre and then sent back to

Auto-valet for sterilisation.

The application of the wires within the ring must perform the rigidity of the fracture, therefore the wires must lie 90 degrees to each other. Obviously, anatomically this is very unlikely due to vessels, nerves etc, but as near as. One wire must be fixed superiorly on the ring to the other inferior.

Dynometric Wire Tensioner.

This is the piece of equipment that will pull the bone fragments together via the olive wire, the tension can be monitored by the guide that is set on the side of the tool. Using the normal wires this tool would be used just to tighten the wires for the comfort of the patient and as said before this is also is an aid to prevent the spread of infection via the wire.