![]() | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract An open fracture is any in which a break in the integument and underlying soft tissues leads directly into the fracture and its hematoma {Gregory 19841.Open fractures continue to present a therapeutic challenge to orthopaedic surgeons. The problems are attributable mainly to the skin injury, injuries to other soft tissues,and the severity of the bone damage {Chapman and Mahoney 19791. An open wound over a fracture almost invariably means that the fracture is contaminated, implying a risk of infect,ion. The overlying soft tissues, as a rule, are more severly injuried in patients with open than in those with closed fractures. This makes open fractures more unstable, moreover bone damage is usually more severe in open than in closed fractures (Karlstrom and Olerud 1983).As the treatment of open fractures of long bones has undergone many changes in the past so that numerous methods have been developed and used by surgeons throughout the worldo Advocates of the conservative school recommend debridement of the wound and immobilization by cast or traction,closed reduction and cast immobilization with early weight bearing, or fixid skeletal traction by cast with incorporated transfixion pins. |