During nailing of long bones, retrieval of locking screws that get ‘lost’ in the soft tissues can be difficult especially in obese patients. We describe a simple technique to avoid this problem. A loop of No. I Vicryl is ‘lassoed’ around the neck of the screw and a clip is attached to its end. The screw is inserted as usual. If the screw gets mal-tracked in the soft tissues, a tug on this Vicryl loop will help to get the screw out. Just before full tightening of the screw, the Vicryl loop is either pulled out or cut. Since it is absorbable, cutting the loop does not result in any problem.