Certified Instrument Specialist (CIS) 2025 Practice Exam – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

External fixation is a method used in the treatment of fractures that focuses on stabilizing the broken pieces of bone from outside the body. The correct approach involves the placement of pins through the bone and into the soft tissues. These pins are then connected to a framework or apparatus that holds the bone fragments in the proper alignment during the healing process.

This technique allows for minimal disruption of the surrounding tissues compared to more invasive surgical methods. By securing the bone externally, it helps maintain the correct positioning of fractured areas while allowing for some movement of the surrounding area, which can be beneficial for recovery and rehabilitation.

In contrast, sewing together bone fragments would typically be associated with internal fixation methods where plates or screws are used, but external fixation employs a more external approach. Realigning bone manually is a preliminary step often undertaken before fixation, but it doesn’t describe how external fixation actually works, which focuses more on the stabilization provided by the external hardware. While screws can be part of a fixation system, they are usually associated with internal fixation techniques rather than the external framework of pins and bars that primarily characterize external fixation.