Side-Loading Torque Device

A surgical instrument for grasping and controlling a guide wire includes a male member having a longitudinal slit in communication with an inner hollow bore and a female member having a longitudinal slit in communication with an inner chamber. The male member is rotatably engageable within at least a portion of the female member. A method of threading a guide wire into a surgical instrument includes engaging a male member within a female member, rotating the male member relative to the female member until a longitudinal slit of the male member is aligned with a longitudinal slit of the female member; inserting a guide wire through the slits and into an interior of the male member and female member; and rotating the male member relative to the female member until the slits of the male member and female member are not aligned, trapping the guide wire within the surgical instrument.