Abstract
Breaking of surgical drill bits and subsequent dislodging in the bone are quite common in the field of orthopedics. Even though a few methods have been reported to remove dislodged drill bits, we present a novel method to remove a broken drill bit without additional instruments or a secondary incision.A broken cannulated drill bit within the locking screw hole inside the neck of a femur was retrieved using a depth gauge with a curved tip that hooked onto the edge of the drill bit. By employing a clockwise and counter-clockwise twisting, the broken drill bit was retrieved through the proximal reaming tract. The 4mm tract, which was established by proximal reaming, immensely facilitated safe and time-efficient removal of the drill tip without further trauma or prolonging the surgery time. With our technique, the removal was simple and safe without further soft tissue trauma and blood loss. We advocate this approach for implementation in similar cases.
Highlights
A surgical drill bit is used to create a cylindrical tunnel to accommodate a screw for rigid fixation
We describe a simple and useful technique that requires no additional instruments to facilitate the removal of a cannulated drill bit, and without prolonging surgical time or requiring secondary incisions
Even though postoperative surgical complications arising from broken instruments are rare, a broken drill bit ending up in the spinal cord after the one-year postoperative follow-up required further surgery to have it removed [2]
Summary
A surgical drill bit is used to create a cylindrical tunnel to accommodate a screw for rigid fixation. We describe a simple and useful technique that requires no additional instruments to facilitate the removal of a cannulated drill bit, and without prolonging surgical time or requiring secondary incisions. At the time of drilling for proximal fixation, a 4mm cannulated drill bit broke off and dislodged into the track (Figure 1). This is quite a common complication while drilling. How to cite this article Al-Kharouf K F, Abbas K, Anjum S, et al (November 18, 2021) Removal of Broken Cannulated Drill Bit. Cureus 13(11): e19706. Employing clockwise and counter-clockwise twisting, the broken drill bit was retrieved through the proximal reaming tract (Figure 3).
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