Patent ID: 7828801

Claim:
An external fixation device for the setting and corrective treatment of bone fractures, comprising: a splint member positionable externally of the site of the fracture, said splint member having first and second axially slidable and mutually fastenable base portions for adjusting the length of said splint member; each of said base portions of said splint member mounting a set of bone pins, wherein said bone pins in each base portion extending at mutually converging angles with respect to each other and with respect to said bone pins in the other base portion from said respective base portions for traversing the site of the bone fracture, and forming a mutually crossing and intersecting pin arrangement at the site of the bone fracture so as to fix any fractured bone segments at said bone fracture site in position secured against rotation and axial movement, wherein said first and second base portions of said splint member are each elongated bars which are axially slidably interconnected so as to extend along a common axis; and fastening structure being provided on one of said base portions for locking said other base portion thereto in predetermined axially adjusted positions, wherein said splint member has axially extending grooves and cooperating lips formed extending along at least a portion of the lengths of each of said base portions to facilitate adjustment of the axial length of said splint member and resulting spacing between the sets of pins between said base portions, wherein positioning spacers are detachably mounted on the outer ends of said base portions to facilitate the radial spacing of said device relative to the location of the bone fracture site during the deployment of the splint member for fixation of the fracture site, and wherein said positioning spacers are arranged so as to be mounted on grooves formed in the lower side edges of each said base portion, and are axially slidably detachable upon completion of the deployment of said splint member proximate said fracture site.