The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

(Editor's note: I am not a medical journalist, so this article is an elementary introduction to the subject.)

Recently my son fell from a ladder and broke his wrist, and although I was aware of the subject of screws and plates in the body, the picture of his surgery intrigued me. So I did some research on the internet about the subject.

Surgical screws are made of titanium or high-grade surgical stainless steel. The sizes of the screw can span vary from .06 inches to .29 inches, depending on the type of fracture. I read that the screws do not set off metal detectors because they are non-...