Our first patient to benefit from the SIGN nail

Squeamish Alert: some photos in this post show more blood and surgery than previous posts!

Some time ago, 25 year old Orlando Guerrero fell while carrying milk on his back down a mountain. He broke his lower leg. Orlando is the eldest of six children. His entire family works on a farm near Caja, high in the mountains above Cuenca. The family is very poor, and needs every member to be able to work to support themselves.While we in Canada assume that we will eventually receive medical care after such an accident, this is certainly not the case in Ecuador. It was entirely possible that Orlando would not walk again.

Daniel before surgery but after receiving his spinal from the anesthesiologist.

Xray of Daniel Guerrero's fractured tibia.

Today, CAMTA surgeons inserted a SIGN Nail (Surgical Implant Generation Network) into Orlando's leg which will straighten it and allow him to walk again. Dr. Patricio Rojo inserted the nail under spinal anesthesia, with CAMTA Dr. Don Weber scrubbing in to assist. Dr. Telmo Tapia, an orthopedic surgeon who represents CAMTA's SIGN Nail program in Ecuador, provided advice during the surgery.

Reaming the femur.

SIGN frame with nail adjacent. The reamer will be removed and the nail placed by hammer into the marrow canal of the tibia.

The SIGN frame aligns the drill with the slot in the nail. Patient Daniel Guerrero

Thanks to private donors and the Rotary Club we are able to provide excellent fracture care at two hospitals in Ecuador. We hope to expand the program steadily to other hospitals.

For more information on the SIGN nail, visit http://www.sign-post.org/