The heel distractor

The heel distractor is a surgical instrument designed for minimally invasive operations of intracomplex calcaneal fractures. A heel bone fracture can be a painful and disabling injury. This type of fracture usually occurs during a high-energy event, such as a car accident or falling down stairs, when the heel is crushed under the weight of the body. When this happens, the heel can widen, shorten, and deform. The distractor is used to restore the length of the heel bone, eliminate rotational and angular shifts, and partially reposition bone fragments due to ligamentotaxis. Structurally, the distractor consists of: two parallel sliders through which two guide axes pass perpendicularly. In one of the sliders, the axes are fixed, and in the second one, they are in a free position. Also, through the sliders comes a screw with a gate, which, when turned to one side, allows the sliders to converge and diverge parallel to each other. Which in turn restores the length of the heel bone.