title: Reverse cutting guidewire for intramedullary nailing: a solution for a common yet undocumented and unresolved complication.
abstract: In 6 of the 81 patients who were treated with intramedullary nailing for a femoral or tibial fracture the ball-tipped guidewire was impossible to remove manually after nail implantation. In four cases we had to remove the implant and to re-insert the nail. While this is a relatively common complication well known to orthopaedic and trauma surgeons, it has not been previously reported. We developed and tested in vitro a reverse cutting guidewire that was able to successfully deal with this problem obviating the need for implant removal and re-insertion.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Orthopaedics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece. fagath@gmail.com
authors.forename: Filon
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Agathangelidis
authors.forename: Achilleas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boutsiadis
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Karataglis
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petsatodis
mesh_terms: D001858:Bone Nails; D020878:Device Removal / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000601:surgery; D005594:Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D012996:Solutions; D013978:Tibial Fractures / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions