Fracture management tool and method

A bone fragment manipulating tool comprising:

• an elongated shaft having a drill bit on its distal end and a shaft diameter;
• deployable wings adjacent to the drill bit on the shaft;
• an elongated tubular housing enclosing the shaft and having a housing diameter greater than the shaft diameter;
• and
• circumferentially equidistant longitudinal slots on the distal end of the tubular housing,
• wherein the shaft is retractable in and out of the tubular housing along a longitudinal axis, the deployable wings are positioned along the longitudinal slots, the deployable wings slide along the longitudinal slots and anchor onto a cortex of a bone fragment upon retracting the shaft and the drill bit in the direction of the tubular housing, and the deployable wings return to an original slender state when the shaft is pushed distally from the housing.

A method of manipulating a fragment of a fractured bone using a bone fragment manipulating tool with reversible pulling mechanism, wherein the tool comprises a drill bit formed on a distal tip of an elongated shaft that is axially movable with respect to a tubular housing in which the shaft is enclosed, comprising:

• drilling through both a secondary primary bone fragment and a first chipped bone fragment such that the drill bit is located on an exterior side of the first chipped bone fragment;
• deploying a radially protruding structure to secure the shaft to an exterior side of the first chipped fragment of the fractured bone;
• manipulating the first chipped fragment of the fractured bone to a proper orientation with respect to the second primary fragment of the fractured bone such that the two fragments are aligned and joined;
• restoring and securing the first chipped fragment of the fractured bone into its natural position in the second primary fragment of the fractured bone;
• undeploying the radially protruding structure so as to collapse the tool to its original, slender state;
• and
• removing the tool in a locked, slender configuration from the bone.