Power Tool Conversion Helps Stabilizes Skeletal Fractures

A new kit that includes single-use pre-sterilized covers for commercial power tools improves skeletal traction procedure efficiency while maintaining sterility.

The Arbutus Medical (Vancouver, Canada) SteriTrak kit includes a specialized pin, a pre-sterilized cover, and a converted DeWalt (Leola, PA, USA) drill, with the drill, batteries, and a charger added at no cost. The drill includes a redesigned chuck for the traction pin, with easy click-in insertion at any angle. A sliding plastic guide provides positional control of the 22X310 mm K-Wire pin, which accommodates all patient sizes. The single-use designation removes the need to autoclave the power tool, which can be stored in the emergency room (ER) with no need for additional sterilizing.


“We've spent years innovating power tools for orthopedics, creating a sterilizable cover to allow affordable hardware tools to be used in a sterile environment for surgeries around the world. In the past year, we found a new application for our expertise – driving pins for skeletal traction procedures outside of the operating room,” said Lawrence Buchan, CEO of Arbutus Medical. “Our new SteriTrak kit allows the emergency room to have sterile tools for skeletal traction readily accessible when time is critical. Bone fractures are a traumatic event, but with SteriTrak, you can now apply temporary traction in about one minute.”

“ERs need a drill for skeletal traction, but most don't have access due to complexity of reprocessing power tools from the operating room,” concluded Mr. Buchan. “About 75% of US Level I and Level II trauma centers perform more than 175 skeletal traction procedures annually, but more than 90% of trauma center ERs don't have a drill for their own use. The SteriTrak kit will simplify how skeletal traction is performed in the ER by maximizing efficiency, and that's really important, because this is a setting where every second counts.”

Skeletal traction is most often used for temporary stabilization, if a delay in operative treatment is expected to be greater than 12-24 hours. Traction through the distal femur is most common, with traction through the proximal tibia used provided there are no ligamentous knee injuries.

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Arbutus Medical
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