I broke a knuckle back in 2004 playing ball. I made a diving catch but my right pinky finger drove into a little bump in the grass as I slid on my chest. The "cup" part of the knuckle broke off causing the knuckle to clamp shut. They had to inset a Kirschner wire (or K-Wire) right through my finger and made a sort of traction cast.
- K-wires - Kirschner, or 'K' wires are thin metal rods that are passed across the broken knuckle bones. These hold the break in place until it is healed, usually three weeks later. The wires are usually left with a short length exposed at the skin, and can be removed with very little discomfort by simply pulling them out with special pliers. The wires need to be kept clean while they are in place, as bacteria could otherwise track to the fracture site to cause a bone infection - this is very hard to then treat and could lead to serious consequences
The worst part of the whole expierence was the insertion of the K-wire. They actually just use a regular drill and run that sucker right though your finger, the drill bit is the actual K-wire. Once through they just cut the drill bit and curve the ends with pliers. However when they began drilling I soon discovered they didn't use enough freezing agent and about a third of the way through I thought my hand exploded. I ripped the drill out of the doctors hand and almost knocked him out with a left hook. They immediatly jammed a needle full under my fingernail and pumped me full of freezing. I was told they didn't understand how I didn't pass out from the pain.
Ahh good times.