Sterile Drill Covers for Low-Cost Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery

The World Health Organization estimates that 20 to 50 million people each year are injured in traffic accidents. About 90% occur in low- and middle-income countries, where resources for treatment are insufficient. Commercial power tools are widely available but expensive ($30,000 or more) surgical equipment is often unavailable, while donated surgical drills fail in low-resource settings because technical support and replacement parts are unavailable. The end result: permanent disability for many. This project offers a potential solution in the form of low-cost sterilizable cover that enables the use of widely available commercial power drills for orthopaedic trauma surgery in low-resource settings.