A novel way to prevent lost scalpel blades during percutaneous placement of iliosacral screws

Percutaneously placed implants and reduction tools are now commonplace in orthopaedic traumatology. Significant strides toward reducing fractures and maintaining that reduction without additional harm to the soft tissue envelope have been realized. The majority of these percutaneous techniques begin with a simple "stab" incision through the skin into the deeper tissue planes beneath. With withdrawal of the scalpel, there is a possibility of dissociation of the blade relative to its handle. We describe a simple and cost-effective technique to completely eliminate this possibility.