The use of a nerve stimulator to allow safe placement of Ilizarov wires.
OBJECTIVE
Avoidance of potential iatrogenic nerve injury during insertion of Ilizarov fine wires into areas of high anatomic risk by using a modified nerve stimulation technique.


METHODS
Application of the Ilizarov ring fixator to areas of high anatomic hazard, in situations where anatomic topography may be distorted by previous surgery, trauma, or congenital anomalies.


METHODS
Use of systemic muscle relaxants. Caution in patient with cardiac pacemaker.


METHODS
Preliminary experiments showed that a standard nerve-stimulating device can deliver a negatively charged, monophasic square pulse of current through Ilizarov wires. During the application of an Ilizarov frame to potentially hazardous anatomic regions, providing no systemic muscle relaxants are used, a voltage field sufficient to cause nerves in close proximity to the Ilizarov wire to depolarize is produced. Identification of a distal muscle twitch provoked by the stimulation may indicate a potential for iatrogenic nerve injury.


RESULTS
Results show that with the nerve stimulator set at 2.5 mA (pulsed at a frequency of 2 Hz), peripheral nerves are stimulated if they lie within 5 mm of the wires. Should a distal muscle twitch occur, wires should be repositioned so that equivalent stimulation produces no twitch. The technique was used during Ilizarov frame application in ten patients, with only a single occurrence of distal muscle twitches in a lower-leg frame. Following repositioning of the Ilizarov wire in this case, no further twitches were observed, indicating that no Ilizarov wire was inserted close to peripheral nerves. No neurologic impairment was present postoperatively.
Shortt
Nicholas L
NL
Edinburgh Orthopaedic Unit, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Little France, UK.
Keenan
Gary F
GF
Muir
Andrew Y
AY
Simpson
A Hamish R W
AH
D001864:Bone Wires; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease / Q000517:prevention & control; D018889:Ilizarov Technique / Q000295:instrumentation*; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000502:physiology*; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012449:Safety; D013525:Surgical Instruments