Efficacy of early soft tissue coverage combined with locking plate external fixation in the treatment of Gustilo type Ⅲ tibial shaft fractures
Pan Jian
Zheng Lianhe
Lu Bin
Han Chao
Sha Hao
Abstract：Objective To analyze the therapeutic effect of early soft tissue coverage combined with locking plate external fixation for Gustilo type Ⅲ tibial fractures.Methods This retrospective analysis was conducted on 26 patients with Gustilo type Ⅲ tibial shaft fractures,who were managed in our department from Jan.2014 to Dec.2023 by soft tissue coverage within 72 h after injury and locking plate external fixation in the end.There were 15 cases of Gustilo type ⅢA,8 type ⅢB,and 3 type ⅢC;19 males and 7 females aged 12-69(mean 42.5)years.Among them,there were 19 road traffic injuries,2 falls from height,and 5 tubular clamping injuries.All patients were followed up at 3 and 6 months and 1 year after surgery,when wound healing,osteomyelitis,and fracture healing or delayed healing were assessed by X-rays and physical examination of patients.The recovery of joint function was evaluated according to the joint mobility and Hospital for Special Surgery(HSS)score of the knee joint.Results Wound infection was reported in 3 cases(11.5%),osteomyelitis in 1(3.8%),and nonunion in 2(7.7%).The average HSS score was 86.5±13.2 and the excellent and good rate of knee joint function reached 80.7%.Conclu-sion Early soft tissue coverage combined with locking plate external fixation is a good choice for Gustilo type Ⅲtibial fracture,which can effectively control infection,promote fracture healing,and well protect the function of the af-fected limb.
Keywords：Open tibia fracturesDebridementSoft tissue coverageLocking plateExternal fixation
Publication Date：2025-02-14
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 116-119 )