Plates and Screws
Fixation Hardware · Bone Plates and Screws · Cranial Plates and Screws · Titanium Plates and Screws · Miniplates · Plating System
Small, thin metal (usually titanium) plates with screw holes, in straight, L, Y, H and T shapes and others, used with matching tiny screws.
On the table
What it does, the lengths it comes in and what experienced techs know about it.
What it’s for
Holds bone in place while it heals. In a craniotomykray-nee-OT-uh-meeSurgery in which a piece of the skull is removed to reach the brain, and usually put back at the end.crani/o skull-tomy cutting intoFull entry the bone flap is put back and secured to the skull with titanium plates and screws (some surgeons wire it with stainless steel wire instead). Also used for facial and jaw fractures, and in free flap and other reconstructions to fix bone.
Lengths and variants
Plates in L, Y, H and T shapes and several thicknesses; screws in several diameters, smaller for the delicate facial bones and larger for the mandibleMAN-dih-bulThe lower jawbone, the only bone of the skull that moves.Full entry (for example 2.0 mm miniplates and 2.4 mm compression plates). Titanium (nonabsorbable) is most common; absorbable plates and screws are useful in children.
What experienced techs know
What techs who reach for it every day know about it.Pro
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2 sources
- Frey (AST). Surgical Technology for the Surgical Technologist. Chapter 24 (Neurosurgery), p. 1154
- Frey (AST). Surgical Technology for the Surgical Technologist. Chapter 18 (Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery), p. 708
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