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Discussion

External fixator

Question?

When a pt has a long external fixator, do you lift the leg with the rod, or the limb? Please provide rationale. We have asked several ortho nurses to no avail and had a patient complaint because the nurse lifted the leg with the rod.

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I would have to say that however that patient is moved, it's gonna hurt. But I would (gently) lift the fixator because it is there to stabilize the limb. Lifting the limb would seem to defeat the purpose and could potentially displace the fracture.

JMO, having only had a couple of patients with these.

The only way I would lift is to hold the back portion of the ex-fix, and probably the foot itself (it may take 2 nurses)

I would never lift by pulling up on the ex-fix - its there for a reason and you dont want to slide something out of place or cause more pain to the patient. (especially when the skin clings to the ex-fix - lifting by it would not be comfortable).

I dont think lifting the limb would displace the fracture, as its already set there by the ex fix rods.

However - all of the ex-fixes i've worked with, (numerous), were for children with limb length discrepency, or femur fractures that were complex. The majority of the time we were breaking the bone, applying the ex fix, and turning the ex-fix knobs to allow for more bone growth.

Just my :twocents: :nuke:

Now you've got me curious. Wonder if an ortho doc would know? I'll ask when I go back to work.

Great question, kacy, I'd never given it a thought before.

I'm in the OR and we (ortho doc's included) always handle the limb by grabbing the ex-fix rings...

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