EXTERNAL FIXATOR

A device placed outside the skin that stabilizes bone fragments with pins or wires
connected to bars.

Purposes:
 to keep fractured bones stabilized and in alignment.
 to ensure the bones remain in an optimal position during the healing process.
UPPER EXTREMITIES
Hoffman’s External Fixator

Indication
Indications and use of the peri-articular clamp
 Unstable extra-articular fractures of the distal radius
 Open and comminituve extra-articular fracture
 Unstable distal radial fractures with undisplaced single articular extension
 Distal radial osteotomies
Materials

Nursing Interventions
Post-operative:
 Regular active finger and wrist motion are recommended from the first post-operative
days. Weekly post-operative X-Ray control for the first three weeks is needed to check
maintenance of reduction.
 Regular pin track cleaning should be performed. Pin care – three times a day with a
mixture of hydrogen peroxide and normal saline - begins the day after surgery.
 The fixator is removed at the sixth post-operative week, provided fracture healing is
confirmed.
 Range of motion is encouraged, with particular attention to supination and shoulder
range of motion.
 Followup radiographs will dictate the timing for fixator removal (average approximately
7 weeks).
LOWER EXTREMITIEs
Roger Anderson External Fixator
screw are placed into the bone above and below
the fracture, and a devise is attached to the screws from
outside the skin, where it may be adjusted to realign the
bone.
Indication
 comminuted fracture of the long bone
Nursing Interventions