K.M. Pfeiffer – författare

Operation on fractures of shafts and joints is chiefly indicated in the upper arm, forearm, femur and tibia. Injuries in these areas can almost always be successfully treated by the techniques described in the "AS IF Manual of Internal Fixation," followed by early exercises. The fixation of small fragments which are of such biomechanical importance, has hitherto given indifferent results, especially when the distal parts of the hand and foot are involved. The implants and instruments developed by Dr. Heim and tried out by AS IF members during recent years have now been assembled into a "small fragment set," which is now available. These implants have significantly expanded the scope of AS IF instrumentation for internal fixation. Pannike first compared the application of the small fragment set with the conventional methods used in hand surgery. Heim and Pfeiffer in cooperation with Meuli, illustrate in this Volume the small fragment set, elucidating in a didactic manner the composition of the set, the indications for its use, and its method of application to all suitable fractures. Enough good results have been secured to establish the usefulness of this development. The following volume may therefore be regarded as an important supplement to the ASIF Manual. It makes it clear again that every internal fixation requires a high level of technical skill, a sense of responsibility, and very gentle handling of the soft tissues.

The rapid development in the surgical treatment of fractures during the past 9 years has necessitated considerable modifications to the first edition of this book. Numerous new implants and instruments are presented in this, the second edition. In 4.0-, 3.5- and 2.7-mm screws the hexagonal socket has definitively superseded the Phillips head, while mini-implants have been modified and a 1.5-mm screw introduced. A number of new plates and implants have been introduced and have long since proved their value. At the same time new techniques, described here, have been developed and applied. The tension-band wire is included, despite the fact that it does not consist of specific AO implants, and use of the Kirschner wire is also illustrated and emphasized whenever the authors consider that this simple method is still the best available. Alterations in the organization of the book have been necessary: the shoulder, the forearm and the knee are treated in separate chapters, and other sections have been extended. With regard to clinical-radiological examples, new typical situations are described and documented. The case studies from the first edition have been recontrolled in all instances in which it was feasible to do so. In this way many valuable late results, 9-12 years after internal fixation, were obtained. We found that almost all joints had remained stable after healing of an articular fracture; so-called late arthrosis is rare in the peripheral skeleton.