Cable Plate Instrument Set – 14-Piece Cerclage Cable Fixation Instrumentation with Tensioner, Crimper, and Cable Locks (PS-OP-1507)

The Cable Plate Instrument Set (PS-OP-1507) is a complete stainless steel ancillary instrumentation kit supplied in a container, designed for the application and removal of cerclage cable fixation systems used in orthopedic trauma and revision surgery to wire or cable bone fragments together — commonly supplementing plate or intramedullary nail fixation in periprosthetic fractures around hip and knee implants, greater trochanter reattachment, long bone fracture fixation where screw purchase is compromised, and revision arthroplasty procedures. The 14-piece set provides the complete cable fixation workflow: a cable passer for routing cable around the bone, a cable tensioner for applying controlled tension to the cable before final fixation, front and back pressure cable locks in two internal diameter sizes (1.0mm and 1.7mm, corresponding to different cable gauges) for securing the tensioned cable, a cable crimper for permanently deforming the cable lock onto the cable, a cable cutter for trimming excess cable after crimping, a spicule cutter and spicule bender for managing the sharp cable end ("spicule") remaining after cutting, curved and straight needle guides for passing the cable around the bone in confined surgical access, and an impactor for seating the cable locks. Manufactured from stainless steel for repeated steam autoclave sterilization across the operative service life of the set. Used by orthopedic surgeons in hospital operating theaters performing trauma and revision arthroplasty procedures requiring cerclage cable fixation. Supplied complete in its container.

Cerclage Cable Fixation: Clinical Applications and the Role of This Instrument Set

Cerclage cable fixation is a technique in which a stainless steel or cobalt-chromium cable is passed circumferentially around a bone — or around a bone and an adjacent implant component — and tensioned to compress fracture fragments together or to secure a bone fragment against an implant or plate. The technique is used in several specific clinical scenarios where conventional screw fixation alone is inadequate. In periprosthetic fractures around the femoral or tibial component of a hip or knee arthroplasty, the presence of the implant stem occupies the medullary canal and limits the bone stock available for screw purchase; cerclage cables passed around the bone and tightened against a supplementary plate provide fixation that does not depend on screw engagement into bone compromised by the implant. In greater trochanteric reattachment — required after trochanteric osteotomy for surgical access in revision hip arthroplasty, or after trochanteric fracture — cables passed through or around the trochanteric fragment and tensioned against the femoral shaft restore the abductor lever arm attachment that is essential for normal gait mechanics. In long bone shaft fractures, particularly comminuted fractures with multiple butterfly fragments, cerclage cables can supplement plate fixation by compressing fragments that individual screws cannot adequately capture. This 14-piece instrument set provides every tool required across this workflow: the cable passer and needle guides for the circumferential cable routing step, which is often the most technically demanding part of the procedure due to the proximity of neurovascular structures that the surgeon must avoid while passing the cable around the bone; the cable tensioner for achieving and maintaining the correct cable tension before locking; the cable locks, crimper, and impactor for permanently securing the tensioned cable; and the cable cutter and spicule management instruments for finishing the procedure safely.

Cable Tensioning, Locking, and the Two Cable Lock Sizes (1.0mm and 1.7mm ID)

The cable tensioning and locking sequence is the core technical step in cerclage cable fixation, and this set provides the dedicated instruments for each stage. After the cable has been passed around the bone using the cable passer and appropriate needle guide, one end of the cable is threaded through a cable lock — a small metal sleeve that will be permanently crimped onto the cable to fix the achieved tension. The cable tensioner is then attached to the free end of the cable and applies controlled, calibrated tension, drawing the cable tight around the bone to achieve the compressive force the procedure requires — adequate tension is essential for the cable to provide effective fixation, while excessive tension risks cable breakage or excessive compression of the bone fragment. Once the desired tension is achieved and maintained by the tensioner, the cable crimper is used to permanently deform the cable lock onto the cable at the achieved tension, creating a fixed mechanical connection that maintains the tension after the tensioner is released. This set includes cable locks in two internal diameter configurations — 1.0mm ID and 1.7mm ID — corresponding to two different cable gauges, with front pressure and back pressure variants of each providing different crimping geometries or orientations relative to the bone surface. The set includes one front pressure 1.0mm ID lock, one back pressure 1.0mm ID lock, three front pressure 1.7mm ID locks, and one back pressure 1.7mm ID lock — the larger quantity of 1.7mm front pressure locks reflects that multi-cable constructs (commonly using two or more cables per fixation site in periprosthetic and trochanteric applications) typically use the larger cable gauge and the front-pressure configuration, with the procurement quantities in this set matched to typical multi-cable case requirements. The impactor is used to fully seat each cable lock against the bone surface before or during crimping, ensuring the lock sits flush and the crimped connection sits close to the bone rather than proud, which could cause soft tissue irritation.

Spicule Management: Cable Cutter, Spicule Cutter, and Spicule Bender

After the cable lock has been crimped onto the tensioned cable, the excess cable beyond the lock — typically several centimetres — must be cut and managed to prevent the sharp cut end (the "spicule") from causing soft tissue irritation, migration into adjacent structures, or palpable prominence under the skin in patients with thin soft tissue coverage over the fixation site. This set provides three instruments for this finishing sequence. The cable cutter is used to cut the cable to the appropriate length beyond the crimped lock, leaving a short residual length rather than cutting flush at the lock, which would risk the crimp loosening if the cut end were to retract. The spicule cutter then trims this residual cable end to its final length, producing a defined cut surface. The spicule bender is used to bend the cut cable end back against itself or against the cable lock, folding the sharp cut surface away from soft tissue contact and reducing the risk of the spicule migrating or causing a palpable prominence. This three-instrument spicule management sequence — cut to length, trim final length, bend the end — is a standard finishing protocol for cerclage cable procedures that, if omitted or performed inadequately, is a recognized cause of postoperative soft tissue irritation and occasionally requires reoperation for spicule-related symptoms.

Stainless Steel Construction and Sterilization Workflow

All instruments in the PS-OP-1507 set are manufactured from stainless steel, providing the corrosion resistance and dimensional stability required for instruments that undergo repeated steam autoclave sterilization between orthopedic trauma and revision arthroplasty procedures. The cable crimper and impactor, which apply significant mechanical force during use, should be inspected at each reprocessing cycle for any deformation of their working surfaces, as a worn crimper jaw can produce an inadequately deformed cable lock that fails to maintain cable tension postoperatively. The cable cutter and spicule cutter cutting edges should be inspected for sharpness, as a dull cutting edge requires increased force to cut the cable, increasing the risk of the cable slipping during the cutting step. The cable tensioner's mechanism should be checked for smooth operation and accurate tension application, as this instrument's calibration directly affects the achieved fixation tension. The needle guides, being slender curved or straight instruments, should be checked for any bending or deformation that would affect their function in routing the cable passer around the bone. The container should be used to verify all 14 components — 13 instruments plus the container itself — are present and correctly accounted for both before and after each procedure.

CE Mark, ISO 13485, and FDA Certification for Orthopedic Instrument Set Procurement

The Cable Plate Instrument Set PS-OP-1507 is manufactured under a quality management system certified to ISO 13485, governing stainless steel material sourcing, precision machining of all cable passing, tensioning, locking, crimping, cutting, and spicule management instruments, dimensional inspection across all components including both cable lock ID sizes, and final set assembly and packaging. CE Mark certification confirms conformity with European Medical Device Regulation requirements for reusable orthopedic surgical instrument sets distributed within EU and associated regulatory territories. FDA compliance documentation is maintained for United States distribution, satisfying regulatory requirements applicable to reusable orthopedic instrumentation procured by US hospitals, trauma centers, and orthopedic surgical instrument distributors. These certifications satisfy procurement and tender documentation requirements of institutional buyers in the USA, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and across international orthopedic surgical supply frameworks. Certificates of conformity and quality management system documentation are available on request. OEM manufacturing and custom set configurations are available within the same certified manufacturing framework.

Product Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions

What procedures is this instrument set designed for, and what does each instrument do?
This 14-piece set provides the complete instrumentation for cerclage cable fixation — a technique used to wire or cable bone fragments together, commonly in periprosthetic fractures around hip and knee implants, greater trochanter reattachment in revision hip arthroplasty, and as a supplement to plate fixation in comminuted long bone fractures. The procedure sequence begins with the cable passer and curved or straight needle guide, used to route the cable circumferentially around the bone — the choice between curved and straight guides depends on the surgical access angle and the bone's local anatomy. Once the cable is positioned, the cable tensioner applies controlled tension while one end of the cable is threaded through a cable lock. The cable crimper then permanently deforms the lock onto the cable at the achieved tension, and the impactor seats the lock flush against the bone. Finally, the cable cutter, spicule cutter, and spicule bender trim and finish the excess cable end to prevent soft tissue irritation from the sharp cut surface. The container houses all 14 components for storage, transport, and sterilization between procedures.

What do the 1.0mm and 1.7mm cable lock sizes correspond to, and why does the set include different quantities of each?
The cable locks in this set are specified by their internal diameter (ID) — 1.0mm and 1.7mm — which corresponds to the diameter of the cerclage cable the lock is designed to crimp onto; cerclage cables are manufactured in multiple gauges, and the cable lock's internal diameter must match the cable diameter being used for the crimped connection to achieve secure fixation. The set includes one front pressure and one back pressure lock in the 1.0mm ID size, and three front pressure plus one back pressure lock in the 1.7mm ID size — a total of six cable locks. The larger quantity of 1.7mm front pressure locks reflects the typical case requirements for multi-cable constructs: many periprosthetic fracture and trochanteric reattachment fixations use two or more cables per construct, and the 1.7mm cable gauge with front-pressure lock configuration is the more commonly used combination in these applications. The front pressure and back pressure designations refer to different crimping geometries or lock orientations relative to the bone surface, with the surgeon selecting the appropriate configuration based on the specific anatomical site and cable approach angle for each cable in the construct.

Why is spicule management (cutting, trimming, and bending the cable end) important, and what happens if it's omitted?
After a cerclage cable has been tensioned and the cable lock crimped to secure that tension, the excess cable beyond the lock must be cut — but the resulting cut end, called a spicule, is a sharp metal surface that, if left in its cut state, can irritate the surrounding soft tissues, particularly in patients with thin soft tissue coverage over the cable site such as the proximal lateral thigh in trochanteric reattachment procedures. An unmanaged spicule can produce a palpable or visible prominence under the skin, cause chronic soft tissue irritation or bursitis at the site, and in some reported cases has been associated with spicule migration causing symptoms at a distance from the original fixation site. This set's three-instrument spicule management sequence — the cable cutter to cut the cable to an appropriate residual length beyond the lock (not flush, which risks crimp loosening), the spicule cutter to trim this residual to its final length, and the spicule bender to fold the cut end back against itself or the lock, directing the sharp surface away from soft tissue contact — is the standard finishing protocol that minimizes these risks. Omitting or rushing this step is a recognized, avoidable cause of postoperative cable-related soft tissue symptoms that can require a secondary procedure to address.

What sterilization protocol is recommended for this set?
All 14 components are manufactured from stainless steel and are compatible with standard steam autoclave sterilization at 134°C pre-vacuum parameters. The cable crimper and impactor, which apply mechanical force to deform metal components during use, should be inspected at each reprocessing cycle for wear or deformation of their working surfaces — a worn crimper produces an inadequately secured cable lock, which can lead to loss of cable tension and fixation failure. The cable cutter and spicule cutter cutting edges should be checked for sharpness; a dull blade increases the force required to cut the cable and the risk of the cable slipping during cutting. The cable tensioner mechanism should be tested for smooth, accurate operation, as its calibration directly determines the fixation tension achieved in the procedure. The needle guides should be inspected for any bending that would affect cable passer routing. The container should be used to verify all 14 components are present and correctly accounted for both before and after each procedure, with particular attention to the cable lock quantities (1 + 1 + 3 + 1 = 6 locks across the two ID sizes), as a missing lock size can prevent completion of the planned construct.

What certifications does this set carry, and are bulk or OEM orders available?
The Cable Plate Instrument Set PS-OP-1507 is manufactured under an ISO 13485-certified quality management system covering stainless steel material procurement, precision machining of all cable passing, tensioning, locking, crimping, cutting, and spicule management instruments, dimensional inspection across all components including both cable lock ID sizes, and final set assembly. CE Mark certification confirms conformity with European Medical Device Regulation requirements for reusable orthopedic surgical instrument sets. FDA compliance documentation supports United States distribution. Certificates of conformity and quality management documentation are available on request for hospital procurement and tender processes. Bulk orders are accepted with a minimum of 1 set, with volume pricing available for hospitals, trauma centers, revision arthroplasty centers, orthopedic instrument distributors, and group purchasing organizations. OEM manufacturing for custom set configurations, alternative cable lock ID sizes, or private-label branding is available within the same ISO 13485-certified framework. Free shipping applies on orders of $99 or more.