The Orthopaedic Distractor is designed to overcome the muscle contracture which occurs following fracture to allow the surgeon to reduce and stabilise the fracture.
The force required to do this even a few days post trauma can be considerable.
Use of the distractor means that there is minimal trauma and devitalisation to the tissues at and close to the fracture. It is these tissues which will be most important during the healing phase.
Use of clamps and bone levers at the fracture site inevitably cause further trauma and often remove or limited the interlock between fragments which are all important for post operative stability.