On an unusually slow surgical rotation day, with only one canine TPLO scheduled, Dr. Jonathan Dyce took advantage of the rare unscheduled time. He prepared an impromptu teaching lab for the students to practice with the tools and implements required for applying External Fixators to an animal’s bones.

To provide a good simulation, he sent one of the students to the hardware store to purchase some PVC piping because it is the closest consistency and size of a large dog’s leg bone.

The table was prepared with a drill, wrenches, pins, screws, nuts and bolts. The lab began with a brief lecture about the three basic elements of the external fixator: pin, clamp and bar. Then the students were asked to assemble a simple five-piece clamp.  As the lab progressed, so did the external fixator, from a replication of a simple break to a more sophisticated assembly to provide more stabilization for a complicated fracture

The lab provided the students a rare hands-on opportunity to practice with equipment at no risk to an animal.