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Role of K-wires in Orthopaedic Traumatology

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Handbook of Orthopaedic Trauma Implantology
  • 29 Accesses

Abstract

Kirschner wire (K wire) is a very simple, economical but an indispensable implant for any orthopaedic surgery. Introduced by Martin Kirschner in 1909, it underwent a lot of modifications for the next century and World War II opened a new horizon for K wire. Initially it was introduced for skeletal traction. Later Otto Loewe in 1932 used it for fracture fixation, and a few years later Frederick Powell in 1940 used it for tension band wiring (Franssen et al., Acta Orthop Belg, 76, 1–6, 2010). Present-day orthopaedic especially paediatrics and hand surgery cannot be implemented without the use of K wire.

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References

  1. Franssen BBGM, Schuurman AH, Van Der Molen AM, Kon M. One century of Kirschner wires and Kirschner wire insertion techniques: a historical review. Acta Orthop Belg. 2010;76:1–6.

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Mandal, A., Gupta, G. (2023). Role of K-wires in Orthopaedic Traumatology. In: Banerjee, A., Biberthaler, P., Shanmugasundaram, S. (eds) Handbook of Orthopaedic Trauma Implantology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7540-0_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7540-0_32

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-19-7539-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-19-7540-0

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