Metal Nail Research Articles

Artefact in forensic medicine: non-missile penetrating injury

Gunshot wounds are well characterised in forensic textbooks and atypical or unusual ballistic characteristics feature regularly in forensic literature. Forensic practitioners receive continuing education in recognising a variety of gunshot wounds which are created by bullet missiles. Awareness of a non-missile penetrating injury mimicking a gunshot wound is also relevant to forensic medical examiners or others who are likely to attend a scene of death. In this case, which involved self-stabbing with a metal nail, a homicidal firearm death investigation was instigated because of a misinterpretation by crime scene investigators.

Therapeutic exercise in the complex treatment of victims of femur fractures

We have accumulated experience in the surgical treatment of diaphyseal fractures of the femur in 256 patients; closed intramedullary osteosynthesis was performed in 56 of them. Like a number of other authors, we performed this operation under the control of an electron-optical converter with bone marrow canal dissection. When the femoral canal is drilled out, part of the bone chips and bone marrow elements are embedded between the bone fragments, which improves the reparative process. This operation, which we perform usually on the 14th day after injury, does not damage the soft tissues in the fracture area, the periosteum and the femur itself. Fixation of bone fragments of the femur is performed using a powerful hollow metal nail with a slit, which, in our opinion, ensures stability of the fracture for the entire period of regeneration and saves the patient from additional external immobilization with a plaster cast with all its inherent drawbacks.

Bending Performance of Spliced, Nailed-Laminated Posts

ABSTRACT buildings due to their economical and structural advantages. The splicing of these posts to reduce the amount of preservative-treated material and to satisfy length demands has presented a problem since no technically valid methodology exists for splice design. This study investigated the effect of three splice variables on post stiffness and bending strength. These variablessplice length, splice location, and the presence or absence of a reinforcing metal nail plate were evaluated by comparing their relative effect on post stiffness and strength. Increasing the splice length and adding a nail plate had the greatest individual effects on strength and stiffness, while splice location showed little relative effect on post bending performance. Interactions between variables also affected bending performance to some extent. For instance, strength and stiffness were less affected by the presence of a nail plate when a 1,220-mm (4-ft) splice was used compared to a 610-mm (2-ft) splice. Our results suggest that jointed three-lamination posts with either a 1,220-mm (4-ft) long splice or a reinforcing metal nail plate on the two outer plies behave as though two of the three plies are effective. Although design procedures cannot be based on these limited tests, the data suggest that present construction guidelines need reevaluation. Posts were analyzed structurally using a nonlinear finite element model which predicted more flexible post behavior than actually occurred in the laboratory tests.

Biomechanics of fracture fixation by plastic rods with transverse screws

The use of transverse screws for interlocking intramedullary nails has been proposed as a method to improve torsional control and prevent collapse of segmental defects (1). However, it is often found difficult to locate the pre-drilled holes in the metal nails, and additional surgery is required for removal of screws for dynamization. The use of nonmetallic intramedullary rods has also been proposed, although previous attempts have been unsuccessful due in part to the selection of the polymeric material (2). The use of polymeric rods with interlocking screws affords several distinct advantages. The plastic rods can be drilled in situ at any location, thus avoiding the difficulty of locating pre-holes. Holes could also be drilled for fixation of free fragments. Furthermore, the use of flexible polymeric rods should avoid the problems of stress protection associated with metallic rods, thus obviating the need for screw or device removal. Nonmetallic materials have the additional advantage of being radiolucent, thereby making roentgenographic examination easier.

Acremonium kiliense . [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria

Abstract A description is provided for Acremonium kiliense . Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: Man, cattle, possibly maize; A. kiliense is a common, ubiquitous, soil fungus (Domsch et al , 1980). DISEASE: There are numerous reports of A. kiliense , often quoted as one of its synonyms, causing lesions of the leg and foot of man (mycetoma, madura foot) with formation of soft white grains (RMVM 6, 418; 7, 3418; 14, 2137). It has also been reported affecting the toenail plates (9, 77), and causing skin infection (14, 202). There is one record of isolation from the placenta and abomasal contents of an aborted bovine fetus (15, 1021). GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: As a disease organism, A. kiliense is more frequent in the tropics, but has been recorded from Algeria, Brazil, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, India, USA and USSR; it is frequently isolated from the soil, air and other substrates. TRANSMISSION: From the soil, often mediated by wounding by metal nails, parts of plants, etc.

Osteosynthesis with the hook-pin in slipped capital femoral epiphysis.

Osteosynthetic materials, such as metallic nails, screws, pins, and bone pegs, used in the surgical treatment of slipped capital femoral epiphysis, have caused peroperative problems because of increased displacement of the femoral head and postoperative problems because of bone resorption and growth of the femoral neck, resulting in loosening of the osteosynthetic material and reslipping of the femoral head. Premature closure of the growth plate and shortening of the femoral neck have also been registered. In order to avoid these problems, a hook-pin was developed. This device has now been in use for a period of 6 years and has been applied in 38 cases, the pin being placed in a drilled channel with the hook in the femoral head. The operation has been performed on the slipped side with or without reduction of displacement and on the asymptomatic side. Seventy-five hips have been operated on. The advantages of the hook-pin and of the operative technique are presented. No avascular necrosis has been noted in 74 hips pinned in situ or after closed reduction. Avascular necrosis occurred in one hip after femoral neck osteotomy. All 28 asymptomatic hips and 27 out of 37 hips with slipped epiphyses showed no tendency toward premature closure during a postoperative observation period of 1--6 years. The growth in length of the femoral neck was found to be up to 15 mm, almost the same on the slipped side as on the asymptomatic side. Only one of the 75 hips required reoperation because of resorption around the hook-pin. After the end of the growth period the hook-pin was extracted in 19 hips without problems.

Aids for use with EMI CT5005 general purpose scanner in tumour localization for radiotherapy treatment planning.

The clinical advantages of computed transverse axial tomography in the localization of tumours are well established. Radiotherapy treatment planning requires information in a form not usually presented by the EMI scanner. This paper describes some technical aids for use both in scanning and viewing procedures which overcome these shortcomings. If localizations are undertaken for the purpose of treatment planning it is necessary to reproduce the position of the patient during treatment. Geise and McCullough (1977) mentioned the contour distortion arising from couch design. The couch fitted as standard consists of a curved wooden pallet which runs in a trough on its support assembly. Fullerton et al. (1978) used the flat-topped couch of the Acta 0100 scanner to make the position of the patient compatible with that on most modern therapy units. A new flat-topped couch mentioned by Westbrook et al. (1978) and used in conjunction with the prototype EMIPLAN radiotherapy planning system installed at the Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton branch, is illustrated and appears on several scans in a paper by Husband et al. (1978) but is not described. At the Queen Elizabeth Hospital a flat couch top has been constructed out of 1.5 cm thick plywood, 183 × 31 cm (Fig. 1). It has three curved supports which match the curvature of the existing couch. All joints are dowelled, as metal screws or nails will cause ranging defects in the scans.

The treatment of non-union and pseudarthrosis of the long bones with thick nails

This paper is based on Küntscher's method of operative treatment of the long bones(Küntscher, 1962) and is a review of 197 cases of non-union and pseudarthrosis of long bones fixed internally with thick metal nails after preliminary reaming of the medullary canal. New reamers and a new nail have been designed and the results are satisfactory. The rigid fixation of the fragments allowed early movement of the limb and so avoided the complications of prolonged immobilization. Anabolic steroids were administered as a routine to this group of patients. Weight bearing and full function of the limb were regained within 3-5 months of the operation. Poor results occurred in 6 cases (3.2 per cent) due to exacerbation of chronic osteomyelitis.

Intramedullary Nailing of Long Bone Fractures

T A time when trauma is responsible for a large and possibly increasing number of hospital admissions, it is pertinent to consider an important adjunct in the open treatment of fractures-namely, intramedullary fixation or nailing. This merely means that a metal rod or nail is inserted through the marrow cavity of a fractured bone fragment and driven across the fracture site and into the marrow cavity of the other fragment to hold the fracture in anatomical position.

Intramedullary Nailing of Long Bone Fractures

T A time when trauma is responsible for a large and possibly increasing number of hospital admissions, it is pertinent to consider an important adjunct in the open treatment of fractures-namely, intramedullary fixation or nailing. This merely means that a metal rod or nail is inserted through the marrow cavity of a fractured bone fragment and driven across the fracture site and into the marrow cavity of the other fragment to hold the fracture in anatomical position.

Metal nail for transvesical prostatectomy

Abstracts: b) Surgery.
 Metal nail for transvesical prostatectomy. Dr. F. Krauss (Zentrlbl. F. Chir. 1929, no. 48) proposed a strong steel nail that protrudes 4 mm. over the surgeon's nail.