Final answer:
The recommended gap between the inside of a ring and a patient's soft tissue in a circular external fixator frame is at least 15 diameters deep.
Step-by-step explanation:
The recommended gap between the inside of a ring and a patient's soft tissue when determining what size ring to use in a circular external fixator frame is at least 15 diameters deep. An older rule of thumb was 5 side-to-side and 7-8 deep, but newer work suggests as much as 8 diameters side-to-side and 15 diameters deep.