US2087722A - Tension retaining appliance for skeletal wires - Google Patents

Description

y 1937 Q E. E.,LONGFELLOW 2,

TENSION RETAINING APPLIANCEv FOR SKELETAL WIRES Filed July 26, 1935 w INVENTOR.

BY I I b ATTORNEY.

Patented July 20, 1937 T OFFICE TENSION RETAENING APPLIANCE FOR SKELETAL WIRES Earl E. Longfellow, Warsaw, llnd, assignor to Harry Herschel Leiter, Warsaw, Ind.

Application July 26, 1935, Serial No. 33,363

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in tension retaining appliances for skeletal wires such as are used in surgical operations for applying extension and fixation to'bone fragments as in the reduction and subsequent treatment of fractures.

In the practice, which now has become more or less general, wires are applied through the fragments of fractured bones and held in tension by means of bows of the Kirschner type, or such as is set forth in Patent No. 1,949,969 issued to me March 5, 1934 for Skeletal tractor for surgical treatment of fractures. Subsequent to the reduction of such features and the application of a plaster cast about the injured member, it is desirable to remove the encumbrance of the bows by which the wires are initially held in tension, and it is also desirable to sustain the wires under tension thereafter.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide means attachable to those portions of the wires that project from the sides of the plaster cast that is so constituted that tension may be readily applied to the wires in such manner as to be sustained after the bows are removed. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is an end elevation of the invention applied to an injured limb, the latter being in crosssection;

Fig. 2 is a front view of one of the anchor plates of the device; and

Fig. 3 is a front View of another anchor plate and an adjustable member associated therewith.

The illustrative embodiment of the invention consists of two fixtures l and 2. The fixture I consists of a curved plate 3 having an outwardly projecting central boss 6, there being a slot 5 that extends from a central opening 6 through the boss and which extends through the margin of the plate so as to permit reception of a skeletal wire '1 transversely through its plate for lodgment in the central opening 6. The boss 4 has also a set-screw 8 by which said wire is clamped in the boss.

The fixture E has a curved plate 9 provided with a slot II] that extends through its outer margin to the center of the plate, and said plate has secured thereto threaded projecting studs l i that are parallel with respect to each other. Upon each of said studs is disposed in threaded relation therewith a flanged sleeve nut I2, and a bar I3 having slotted ends is operatively associated with said nuts so that as the nuts are turned the bar is adjustably moved toward or away from the plate 9. The bar I3 has an outwardly extending boss It provided with a central opening l5, and a slot it extends from said opening through the boss and adjacent edge of said bar, which slot it is alined with the slot ii] in the plate 9 when the bar is positioned on the nuts 52. The slots 16 and ill permit reception of the skeletal wire I transversely through the plate Q, bar 53 and boss it into the central opening I5. The boss M has also a set-screw ll by which the wire I! is clamped in the boss. By this arrangement relative rotary movement with respect to the skeletal wire l, bar 53 and plate 9, is prevented. This feature is of advantage during axial adjustment of the bar 53 with respect to the plate 9, as thereby detrimental twisting of the skeletal wire in the injured member is forestalled.

Operation In utilizing the invention a skeletal wire I is initially applied to an injured limb I8 so as to pass through a fragment I9 of the fractured bone and so that the ends of the wire extend beyond the opposite sides of the limb. The ends of the wire are then secured in clamps 28 and 2| that are disposed on the ends of a bow 22. The clamp 2i preferably is mounted upon a swinging bracket 23 that is adjustably moved outwardly'by means of a screw 25 so that the wire is placed under more or less tension to prevent fiexure thereof.

Surrounding the injured limb I8, after the fracture has been reduced, is formed a cast 25 of plaster or other suitable encasing material, following which the fixtures I and 2 are placed astride of the wire l between the clamps 20 and 2E on the bow and against the corresponding sides of the cast and respectively on the opposite sides thereof so that the plates 3 and 9 bear against the exterior surface of the cast. The screw 8 in the boss 4 and the screw H in the boss I4 are then tightened against the wire i so as to prevent axial movement of the wire relative to the fixture I and bar I3. The thumbnuts I2 are then turned so that the desired tension is applied to the wire I, after which the clamps 2t! and 2| are loosened and the bow 22 is removed. Those portions of the wire I that project beyond the bosses 4 and I4 are then severed by means of any suitable instrument (not shown). In this manner the tension of the wire is sustained in place during convalescence while the patient is relieved of the encumbrance of the bow.

I claim:-

1. A surgical appliance for holding a skeletal Wire under tension while positioned in an injured limb encased in a plaster cast, said appliance consisting of two fixtures, one of said fixtures having a plate provided with a boss and a' slot extending into the boss and through an adjacent part of said plate to permit reception of said wire into said boss, the other fixture consisting of a slotted plate provided with outwardly projecting parallel threaded studs having thereon corresponding flanged sleeve nuts and a bar operatively associated with said nuts so that as the nuts are turned said bar is adjustably moved toward or away from the cor-.

responding plate, said bar having an outwardly extending boss and a slot extending into said boss and through an adjacent portion of the bar, and screws in said bosses disposed to have clamping engagement with a skeletal wire positioned in the slots of said bosses.

2. A surgical appliance for holding a skeletal wire in tension while positioned in an injured limb that is encased in a cast, said appliance consisting of two fixtures one of which has a plate slotted for the reception of said wire and provided with a clamping means for said wire, the other of said fixtures having a slotted plate for the reception of said wire, a tension applying member operably associated with the last-mentioned plate provided with a clamping means engageable with said Wire, and means connecting said member and the last-mentioned plate constituted so as to axially adjust said member to the last-mentioned plate and to prevent relative rotary movement thereof.

EARL E. LONGFELLOW.

Images