How Do I Know What Kind of Screws Were Used in My Surgery?

Medical screws are used to repair a variety of bone breaks and fractures. You might want to know what kind of screws were used in your surgery out of simple curiosity, or perhaps you heard or read a news item about a brand of surgical screws recalled for safety reasons. You have a few options for finding out what types of surgical screws were used.

Instructions

• 1

  Research the screws used in your surgery based on the type of surgery you had. Herbert screws, for example, are used for fractures of small bones such as carpals. Dynamic hip screws are used for repairing a damaged hip, and Acutrak screws help fix fractured wrists.

• 2

  Locate the name of the doctor who performed your surgery by consulting your medical records. If you cannot find this information, call the hospital's medical records department and ask them which doctor did your procedure. They may ask you to put your request in writing.

• 3

  Contact the doctor's office to ask what kind of screws were used in your surgery. Alternately, see if the doctor or medical facility has a website that lists the doctor's email address, and send your question via email.

• 4

  If your doctor is on vacation, retired or otherwise unavailable and the records of your operation cannot be found in his office, contact the medical facilities records department and ask them to research the details of your procedure to find out what screws were used.