Patent ID: 7291148

Claim:
An external fixation device for applying elongating tension between a radius that has been fractured at a distal fracture site and a metacarpal and for aligning fragments of said radius that have been displaced by said fracture, said device comprising: a metacarpal mounting structure capable of being affixed to said metacarpal; a radius mounting structure and means for affixing said radius mounting structure to said radius at a location proximal to said fracture site; a connector joining said metacarpal and radius mounting structures, said connector defining a connector axis and comprising means for moving said mounting structures relative to each other along said connector axis and means for fixing said mounting structures at a selected displacement along said connector axis; and a single compound joint joining said radius mounting structure to said connector, said single compound joint comprising means for allowing said radius mounting structure to rotate freely and independently about first and second rotational axes, and only about said first and second rotational axes, said second rotational axis being transverse to said first rotational axis, said single compound joint further comprising means for eliminating free rotation of said radius mounting structure about said first and second rotational axes by a single tightening step, said means for allowing said radius mounting structure to rotate and said means for eliminating free rotation being independent of said means for affixing said radius mounting structure to said radius.