Here is another Case of the Week. Actually, new BBFFs have come in every week lately. In January an orthopedic surgeon and friend of ours came to visit for a couple of weeks. During that time he showed me how to fix Both Bone Forearm Fractures (BBFFs) with plates and screws. Until that time I was casting them, which gives far inferior results, such as the two forearm bones fusing together and severely limiting rotation of the forearm.
The orthopedic surgeon also helped me dig through years of old ortho equipment that had accumulated in the hospital, some of which we were able to re-purpose. For example, we sawed off the corner of some old hip plates, and now I can use them in patients like this 10 year old boy who had a femur fracture.
For the forearm fractures we found a number of plates and screws that have been working well. Unfortunately, I have been running out of the right sizes of hardware, and so sometimes the night before the operation, I have to go to the shop and cut some screws/plates to the right size in anticipation of the next day's surgery.
Despite the lack of good hardware, by God's grace the patients have always had fine results. That being said, if you have any extra plates or screws lying around, let me know :)
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