Introduction: A common shoulder injury is a distal clavicle fracture which can be treated with various methods such as coracoclavicular (CC) stabilization, fixation with a distal clavicular locking plate, hook plate or tension band wiring. In CC stabilization, the most difficult step is passing a suture under the coracoid base because there is no standard instrument matched to the shape of the coracoid process. We propose a technique using a modified recycled corkscrew suture anchor to pass a suture under the coracoid base.
Case presentation: A 30-year-old Thai female with a left clavicle fracture was scheduled for CC stabilization. In the step of passing a suture under the coracoid base, we used a modified recycled corkscrew suture anchor to quickly and easily perform this step.
Clinical discussion: There are some specialized commercial tools which are designed to pass a suture under the coracoid base but all are very expensive (∼ $1400-1500 per piece). To overcome this problem, we modified a used sterilized corkscrew suture anchor to pass a suture under the coracoid base, normally done from the medial to lateral sides, recycling a device usually discarded after use.
Keywords: Coracoclavicular stabilization; Distal clavicle; Fracture.
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