Expandible-extendible intramedullary nail

An expandible-extendible intramedullary nail comprising:

• an elongate tubular base section;
• an elongate tubular assembly component connected to the base section, the assembly component having an inner assembly surface and helical assembly threads formed on the inner assembly surface, the assembly component and the helical assembly threads each having a longitudinal central axis, the longitudinal central axis of the assembly component and the helical assembly threads coinciding with one another;
• an elongate tubular distal rod connected to the assembly component, the distal rod having a longitudinal central axis that coincides with the longitudinal central axis of the assembly component;
• and
• an elongate tubular driving nut connected to the distal rod and assembly component, the driving nut comprising:
• an inner nut member with a proximal section having a semi-circular recess to form a track bordering an outer perimeter edge of the driving nut;
• and
• an internal threaded washer with helical nut threads located on an outer wall surface of the internal threaded washer, and one or more detents protruding from an inner wall surface of the internal threaded washer;
• the driving nut being rotatable about the longitudinal central axis of the helical nut threads such that the rotation causes helical displacement of the helical nut threads relative to the helical assembly threads which, in turn, causes longitudinal displacement of the distal rod relative to the assembly component;
• and
• a distal section of the inner nut member of the driving nut is lodged within the distal rod, the proximal section of the inner nut member of the driving nut is lodged within the assembly component,
• the one or more detents of the internal threaded washer extends to traverse at least a portion of the track of the semi-circular recess of the inner nut member to allow the driving nut to spin freely during the longitudinal displacement of the distal rod relative to the assembly component.