“Push back” technique: A simple method to remove broken drill bit from the proximal femur

Removal of Broken Cannulated Drill Bit

Breaking of surgical drill bits and subsequent dislodging in the bone are quite common in the field of orthopedics. Even though a few methods have been reported to remove dislodged drill bits, we present a novel method to remove a broken drill bit without additional instruments or a secondary incision. A broken cannulated drill bit within the locking screw hole inside the neck of a femur was retrieved using a depth gauge with a curved tip that hooked onto the edge of the drill bit. By employing a clockwise and counter-clockwise twisting, the broken drill bit was retrieved through the proximal reaming tract. The 4mm tract, which was established by proximal reaming, immensely facilitated safe and time-efficient removal of the drill tip without further trauma or prolonging the surgery time. With our technique, the removal was simple and safe without further soft tissue trauma and blood loss. We advocate this approach for implementation in similar cases.

A simple reproducible technique for the retrieval of broken proximal femoral blades, a technical note and review of literature

Despite advances in metallurgy, fatigue failure of hardware in orthopaedics is common especially when a fracture fails to heal. Revision procedures can be difficult, usually requiring removal of intact or broken hardware. Several different methods are usually used to successfully remove the intact or broken hardware. The proximal blade fracture is rare and under-reported in the literature. In our tertiary non-union and limb reconstruction unit, we have developed a technique for an easy and quick removal of a broken proximal femoral blades.