Utah’s AG Helps Coders with Blog
September 12th, 2008
Curious about the Ilizarov procedure (20692 Application of a multiplane (pins or wires in more than one plane), unilateral, external fixation system (eg, Ilizarov, Monticelli type))? Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff provides an excellent explanation on his blog, www.utahag.blogspot.com. Photographs, X-rays, and a description of the technique are provided.
The attorney general’s leg was broken in at least seven places in a motorcycle accident during a charity event for the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation last year. The injury failed to heal after six surgeries and an infection, and Shurtleff says his surgery performed over Labor Day weekend is the lone alternative to amputation, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
“The only trouble I will have is crafting a pant leg that will fit over the crazy contraption,” Shurtleff said about the rings and wires attached to his leg. “Maybe I’ll stimulate the resurgence of bell-bottom trousers for men,” he told the newspaper.
The Ilizarov procedure utilizes multiple rings connected not only to wires through the bone but to each other; It is often used in cases similar to this where there is nonunion or when lengthening the leg.
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