External devices which hold wires or pins that are placed through one or both cortices of bone in order to hold the position of a fracture in proper alignment. These devices allow easy access to wounds, adjustment during the course of healing, and more functional use of the limbs involved
A bone fixation technique using an external fixator (FIXATORS, EXTERNAL) for lengthening limbs, correcting pseudarthroses and other deformities, and assisting the healing of otherwise hopeless traumatic or pathological fractures and infections, such as chronic osteomyelitis. The method was devised by the Russian orthopedic surgeon Gavriil Abramovich Ilizarov (1921-1992). (From Bull Hosp Jt Dis 1992 Summer;52(1):1)
