Combined intramedullary Kirschner wire and intra-osseous wire loop for fixation of finger fractures.

An intramedullary Kirschner wire was combined with an intra-osseous wire loop for fixing finger fractures. The mechanical stability of this technique to resist a bending moment in the sagittal plane was compared with four other conventional methods: single loop, loop and an oblique Kirschner wire, crossed Kirschner wires and dorsal plating. It was found that when the applied force was small, the technique was much more stable than the crossed Kirschner wires and was similar to the others. The ability to withstand mechanical failure was much better than most of the methods except the dorsal plate. This technique is recommended for replantations, transverse fractures and short oblique fractures with little comminution.