Role of temporary external fixator in staged management of closed long bone fractures
LIN Shi-shui
HE Wu-bing
XU Zhi-xian
LIN Hao
QIU Mei-guang
ZHANG Xu-ming
Abstract：Objective To evaluate the treatment effect of a staged protocol involving temporary external fix-ation and delayed definitive fixation in the management of closed long bone fractures with severe multiple trauma. Methods Retrospective review of 58 patients with closed long bone fracture underwent immediate temporary exter-nal fixation between Jan.2009 and Aug.2013 was carried out.There were 39 males and 19 females,with a mean age of 47 years ( ranged from 18 to 70 years) .Definitive fixations were based on the general conditions of specific patients after the stabilization of general condition and the status of local soft tissue.Results The average interval between external fixation and definitive internal fixation was 6 days.The pin tract infection occurred in 2 patients before internal fixation.The mean time for postoperative follow-up was 5.2 months(ranged from 3 to 18 months). The overall rate of surgical site infection after definitive internal fixation was 5.2%(3 out of 58) .Conclusion Im-mediate temporary external fixation did not increase the risk of postoperative infection after definitive fixation and provided groundwork for the further treatment of the closed long bone fractures.
Keywords：long bone fracturemultiple traumafixatorinternal fixation
Publication Date：2015-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 323-326 )