Kirschner wire (K-wire)
A smooth, sharpened stainless-steel pin of small diameter (typically under about 2-3 mm).
How it is used
Driven through bone with a hand or power drill, it provides temporary percutaneous fixation of small fractures (hand, wrist, foot) or serves as an anchor for skeletal traction.
Clinical tip
When used for temporary fixation, K-wires are typically removed around four weeks later, once healing has progressed enough.
Sources
This entry is part of the Instriq catalog, researched and written per specialty from real web research -- never generated or invented without verification -- and reviewed skeptically and independently before publication. How this catalog is written.
Image: Medin a.s., Czech Republic (via Wikimedia Commons). License CC BY-SA 4.0. View original source.
History
Added to the catalog on 2026-10-02.
Dates derived from the project's public version-control history on GitHub, not a live collaborative edit log.