The Reuse of Circular External Fixator Components: An Assessment of Safety and Potential Savings
| dc.contributor.advisor | Laubscher, Maritz | |
| dc.contributor.author | Chironga, Kudzai | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-03-01T12:40:05Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-03-01T12:40:05Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2023-02-20T12:24:44Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Purpose: Cost saving strategies are important especially in a resource constrained environment. One such strategy well supported in literature is the reuse of temporary monolateral external fixator components, a strategy we utilize at our institution. The aim of the study was to determine the safety and cost saving associated with the reuse of definitive circular external fixator components in a resource constrained environment. Method: We performed a retrospective review of all adult patients who were treated with either new or reused circular external fixators from a single manufacturer between January and December 2017. Reused circular external fixator components, excluding half pins and wires, were subjected to an in-house reprocessing protocol. Cost savings were calculated as the difference between the price of a completely new frame and the amount invoiced for new components only in a reused frame. Results: 33 patients were included in the study with an average age of 31.9 years. The mean duration of treatment with a circular external fixator was 5.8 months. No mechanical failure events were recorded during the study period. Our institution saved approximately 52% (R717 503.89) and 63 % (R136 568.19) of expected total cost for hexapod and Ilizarov frames respectively. Conclusion: The strategy of reusing circular external fixator components is unconventional and this study was conducted to evaluate the safety and potential savings in a resource constrained environment. We demonstrated this practice to be reasonably safe and to result in significant cost savings which might be relevant in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Chironga, K. (2022). <i>The Reuse of Circular External Fixator Components: An Assessment of Safety and Potential Savings</i>. (). ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Division of General Surgery. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37090 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Chironga, Kudzai. <i>"The Reuse of Circular External Fixator Components: An Assessment of Safety and Potential Savings."</i> ., ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Division of General Surgery, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37090 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Chironga, K. 2022. The Reuse of Circular External Fixator Components: An Assessment of Safety and Potential Savings. . ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Division of General Surgery. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37090 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Master Thesis AU - Chironga, Kudzai AB - Purpose: Cost saving strategies are important especially in a resource constrained environment. One such strategy well supported in literature is the reuse of temporary monolateral external fixator components, a strategy we utilize at our institution. The aim of the study was to determine the safety and cost saving associated with the reuse of definitive circular external fixator components in a resource constrained environment. Method: We performed a retrospective review of all adult patients who were treated with either new or reused circular external fixators from a single manufacturer between January and December 2017. Reused circular external fixator components, excluding half pins and wires, were subjected to an in-house reprocessing protocol. Cost savings were calculated as the difference between the price of a completely new frame and the amount invoiced for new components only in a reused frame. Results: 33 patients were included in the study with an average age of 31.9 years. The mean duration of treatment with a circular external fixator was 5.8 months. No mechanical failure events were recorded during the study period. Our institution saved approximately 52% (R717 503.89) and 63 % (R136 568.19) of expected total cost for hexapod and Ilizarov frames respectively. Conclusion: The strategy of reusing circular external fixator components is unconventional and this study was conducted to evaluate the safety and potential savings in a resource constrained environment. We demonstrated this practice to be reasonably safe and to result in significant cost savings which might be relevant in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). DA - 2022_ DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Orthopaedic Surgery LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2022 T1 - The Reuse of Circular External Fixator Components: An Assessment of Safety and Potential Savings TI - The Reuse of Circular External Fixator Components: An Assessment of Safety and Potential Savings UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37090 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37090 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Chironga K. The Reuse of Circular External Fixator Components: An Assessment of Safety and Potential Savings. []. ,Faculty of Health Sciences ,Division of General Surgery, 2022 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37090 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.rfc3066 | eng | |
| dc.publisher.department | Division of General Surgery | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences | |
| dc.subject | Orthopaedic Surgery | |
| dc.title | The Reuse of Circular External Fixator Components: An Assessment of Safety and Potential Savings | |
| dc.type | Master Thesis | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Masters | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | MMed |