TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention is especially related to a squeezing apparatus which locks the wire retainer on kirshner wire, after placing the kirschner wire and the wire retainer in desired position. These wire retainers fasten the Kirschner wire that is sed for compressing and fixing the fractured fragments by being past through the fracture line .

PRIOR ART

Techniques developed for fracture treatment until today are Kirschner wire (k-wire), screw, plate screw, intramedularry nail and external fixation. The purpose of these techniques is to fix the fractured fragments in the desired position until healing. The advantages and disadvantages of these techniques change according to the type of fracture and shape the treatment plan of the surgeon.

Among these techniques, in technique of fixation with k-wire, after setting (reducing) the fragments these wires are past through the bone fragments and thus, the broken bones arefixed. After reduction; the broken bones may move forward and backward through the wire since the wires can not provide compression between fragments. Additionally these wires may migrate after being placed into the body.

In fracture fixation with screw, the fragments are first placed into their original places. Compression between the fragments is obtained according to the principle of forming mutual force between the screw head and the screw threads which is the working principle of screw. In this technique it is required to increase the dimensions of the screw to increase the compression force and the adherence. However, if the sizes of the fragments are small, the dimension of the screw can not be increased. Due to the screw size, no space may be left to locate an additional screw between the fragments. Additionally, as a surgical technique, first the bone is drilled with a drill and then, thread holes are opened for screw thread and afterwards, the screw is placed. Additionally, before these processes, sometimes k-wire is needed to be placed to guide the screw. As a result, the surgical technique is relatively complex. Moreover, the compression provided by screw threads may not be enough for patients with osteoporosis. In fixation of the broken bones with plate and screw, after reducing, the broken fragments are fixed to their locations by plates held by screws. However, since the plates are held by screws, all of the disadvantages of screw technique are also experienced in here. The process of placing plates requires the abrasion of more tissue surrounding the bone. This means more incision and more vascularization problem for the bone pieces. The plate may prevent the healing of skin where the subcutaneous tissue is very thin and may be felt by hand. When the bone pieces are small or very close to the joints, it is impossible to place the plates. Additionally, when they are needed to be taken out, the surrounding tissue is damaged again.

As a result, due to the disadvantages mentioned above and the insufficiency of the present solutions, the product with application no 2010/05662 and title "A wire retainer" is developed different from the known methods. In order to use this "wire retainers" in the fixation of broken bones, the "squeezing apparatus" subject to the application is developed.

OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to present an apparatus in order to place the wire retainers subject to the patent with examination, into the body during surgery with little damage to the soft tissues.

The object of the invention is to achieve bone healing by giving minimum harm to the bones and the surrounding soft tissue by using the wire retainers with percutaneous techniques.

An object of the invention is to provide the fixation after reducing with the help of thin wires and providing compression at the fracture line and to make it possible to compress small fragments.

An object of the invention is to use the thin k-wires for both compression and support by the virtue of a wire retainer.

Another object of the invention is to eliminate the important problem of collapsing of small fragments in fractures which are close to the joints such as knees by placing multiple k-wires beneath the fractured fragments.

In order to place the screw, thick slots are opened on the bone pieces. An object of the invention is to eliminate the problem of formation of new fractures due to these thick slots by the usage of k- wires which are much thinner than these slots. Another object of the invention is to provide compression over the wire by using the wire with the wire retainer subject to application 2010/05662 in cases where the bone anatomy such as fractures around the elbow does not allow the usage of thick fixation tools.

Another object of the invention is to carry out the surgery without groove opening, drilling etc.

The structural and distinctive characteristics and air advantages of the invention will be better understood with the figures below and the detailed description written by referring to these figures and therefore, the invention should be evaluated considering these figures and the detailed explanations.

FIGURES FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 , is the general view of the squeezing apparatus subject to the invention.

Figure 2, is the general view of the squeezing apparatus subject to the invention from a different angle.

Figure 3, is the detailed/close up view of the tip of the squeezing apparatus subject to the invention. Figure 4, is the usage view of the squeezing apparatus subject to the invention with working cannula and the gripper.

Detail A; shows the squeezing apparatus when it grips the wire and when it is positioned for squeezing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCES

S. Squeezing apparatus

G. Gripper

R. Retainer

1. Shaped Tip

2. K-wire channel

3. Body

4. Holding Part

5. Kirschner wire / K-wire

6. Working Cannula

It is not necessary to scale the drawings and the details which are not necessary for a better understanding of the invention may be omitted. Additionally, the elements which are at least substantially identical or at least substantially have identical functions are shown with the same reference number.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this detailed description, the preferred embodiments of the squeezing apparatus (S) subject to the invention are described just for a better understanding of the subject.

The invention is used together with "A wire retainer" which is subject to the patent application number2010/05662 from Turkish Patent Institute and used for the fixation of the broken bones. Said squeezing apparatus (S) especially provides the usage of the retainer (T) subject to the patent application 2010/05662, with percutaneous techniques.

Since the dimension of this "wire retainer" is equal to the size of screw heads; the retainer (R) occupies a much smaller space compared to the plates located onto the fragments and the problem of feeling the retainer (T) with hand is experienced rarely. Since the compression force provided by threads in screws requires adherence to the bone marrow; the usage of screw causes difficulties in patients with low bone quality. However, since "a wire retainer" provides holding over the bone cortex, it provides very important usage advantages in patients with low bone quality such as osteoporosis. Since cortical adherence is provided with "a wire retainer", the problem of dislocation of) kirschner wires is not experienced. While taking the k-wire (5) out after the treatment, the damage given to the bone and the surrounding soft tissue is minimized by percutaneous techniques with the help of a magnet as it is described in application with title "An apparatus with magnet for wire holders".

The invention is related to a squeezing apparatus (S) which rotates screwed system of the retainer and locks the retainer (R) by squeezing retainer (R) by the virtue of:

- a shaped end (1) which fits into the grooves present at the upper part of the retainer (R);

- a body (3) with a length providing the connection of shaped end (1 ) with the retainer (R) by passing through the gripper (G);

- k-wire channel (2) which provides the advancing of shaped end (1 ) and the body (3) over the kirschner wire (5) in order to advence until the retainer (R) touches the cortex

holding part (4) to manuplate the squeezing apparatus (S). after the gripper (G) passes through the working cannula (6), advances the retainer (R) to the bone surface and locks it on the bone surface after the Kirschner wire (5) is stretched. Wire holder squeezing apparatus (S) is developed to lock the retainer (R) subject to the patent titled "A wire retainer", after it is located onto the desired location on the bone (Figure 4).

The squeezing apparatus (S) allows the upper part of the retainer (R) to be rotated on the k-wire (5) thanks to the k-wire channel (2) therein. The shaped end (1 ) is shaped in accordance with the shape of the upper part of the wire retainer (R) (Figure 3). By the virtue of this shape, the wire retainer (R) is immobilized on the k-wire by the squeezing apparatus (S) with during the locking maneuver, which is rotation of the upper part of the retainer (R). Access to the desired location where the retainer (R) is provided with the body (3) by the percutaneous technique and the opportunity for manual guidance and rotation is provided with the holding part (4).

In an alternative embodiment of the invention;

The shaped end (1 ) of the invention may be in the form of triangle, rectangle or another shape depending on the outer surface of the wireretainer (R). The k-wire channel (2) which is present at the center of the body (3) and follows the body (3) lengthwise may have different diameters and may be placed eccentrically. The body (3) subject to the invention may have a different shape (other than cylinder, such as hexagonal, rectangle) and length. The holding part (4) of the invention may be "T", "L", "C" shaped or may have another shape.