How long does it take for K wires to heal?

Almost all the pins (Fig. 1) were left in place longer than 3 weeks. This can be justified by the fact that most supracondylar fractures take 3–4 weeks to heal while most forearm and lateral condyle fractures take 4–6 weeks.

How long do K wires stay in wrist?

Care at home after the K-wires are removed After 24 hours, your child can have a shower, but afterwards you will need to replace wet dressings with new dry dressings.

Do K wires go through the bone?

A Kirschner wire (also called a K-wire) is a thin metallic wire or pin that can be used to stabilize bone fragments. These wires can be drilled through the bone to hold the fragments in place. They can be placed percutaneously (through the skin) or can be buried beneath the skin.

Can K-wires be left in?

K-wires can be buried and left in situ until union or they can be left unburied and require removal after four weeks, with plaster immobilisation until union. There is no consensus as to whether wire burial is preferable or not.

How do you remove K-wires?

The K-wires stick out of the skin so that they can be easily removed once the bone has healed. They are covered with a dressing and a plaster cast and you / the patient will not be able to see them; alternatively they may be exposed out of the toe or finger.

Can K-wires come loose?

Breakage: K-wires may bend or break, especially if the fracture does not heal. Loss of fixation: Smooth K-wires may back out of the bone losing the fixation. This is especially likely if they pass between two mobile bones. Migration of K-wires can occur; instead of backing out the wire can move deeper.

Can K wires come loose?

How long does it take for a K-wire to heal?

The injured bone should be healing and the discomfort from the K-wire removal should settle within a few hours. We recommend you / the patient continues with simple pain relief as required. Sometimes it is not possible to remove K-wires in the Outpatient Department.

What are K-wires and how do they work?

K-wires come in different sizes, and as they increase in size, they become less flexible. K-wires are often used to stabilize a broken bone and then removed in the office once the fracture has healed. The wires can also be threaded to help prevent movement or backing out of the wire, although that can also make them more difficult to remove.

Can K-wires be placed in the shoulder?

Although rare, there are case reports of placing K-wires in bones around the shoulder that were found to migrate to the chest cavity weeks or months later. 4  Most often, K-wires are removed sometime after the bone has healed sufficiently.

How are K-wires removed from a broken bone?

Most often, K-wires are removed sometime after the bone has healed sufficiently. There are exceptions if the wire is buried deep inside a bone, but the majority of the pins are removed once healing is complete (or at least to a point where the broken bone is stable). The smooth pins can often be removed in the office without special anesthesia.