The Basic Principles of External Skeletal Fixation Using the Ilizarov Device

The volume is an overview of the basics of biomechanics of circular external fixation. It is based on a system of coordinates that allows safer insertion of K-wires and half pins into the bone. It includes a new classification of this device, a collection of terminology, and a description of relevant equipment. It also presents the protocol of external fixation including how to avoid mistakes, and provides a numerical codified system for the application of transosseous wires.

The Author, Dr Leonid Solomin, is head of the External Fixation Department of the Russian Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedics in St. Petersburg. Both his clinical practice and research are devoted in acute trauma and in reconstructive surgery with particular knowledge of the Ilizarov method.