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Objective: To delineate whether timing to initial debridement and definitive treatment had an effect on patient outcomes in those undergoing 2-stage ortho-plastic management of Gustilo-Anderson type IIIB open tibial diaphyseal fractures., Design: Retrospective comparative cohort study over a 2-year period., Setting: Level 1 trauma center., Patients/participants: A total of 148 patients were identified. After exclusion of ankle fractures, nondiaphyseal fractures and those who did not undergo 2-stage ortho-plastic management, 45 patients were eligible for final analysis., Intervention: Time to initial debridement and definitive management., Main Outcome Measurement: Deep infection. Secondary outcomes being nonunion and flap failure. Multiple linear regression was used for outcomes. We assumed a priori that P values of less than 0.05 were significant., Results: Mean age was 54 years (SD 23.0), with 28 men and 17 women. Over a mean 2-year follow-up, there were 4 (4/45) deep infections, 2 infection-associated flap failures, and 1 vascular flap failure. All patients progressed to union. The mean time to initial debridement for the whole cohort was 19 hours (SD 12.3), and the mean time to definitive reconstruction was 65 hours (SD 51.7). Longer time to both initial debridement and definitive reconstruction was not found to be significantly associated with deep infection, infected flap failure, or nonunion., Conclusions: Using a 2-stage ortho-plastic operative algorithm, timing to initial debridement and definitive fixation with soft-tissue coverage was not associated with negative outcomes., Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Objectives: To examine the relationship between the magnitude of soft-tissue defect and the risk of free-flap and limb-salvage complications/failures., Design: Retrospective cohort., Setting: Level I Trauma Center., Patients: One hundred twelve patients with free tissue transfers between January 2009 and June 2015., Intervention: A standardized approach using a consistent team of 2 orthopaedic microvascular surgeons was used for each free-flap reconstruction., Main Outcome Measure: Soft tissue defect size, total or partial flap failure, and unplanned reoperations., Results: Of 112 free-flap reconstructions, 57 complications occurred in 43-cases (38%) including 5 total flap failures (4.5%), 7 partial flap failures (6%), and 8 early (7%) and 38 delayed complications (33%). There was a significant correlation between the large defect size (≥200 cm) and partial/total flap failure (n = 80, P = 0.023). There was also a significant correlation between large soft tissue defect size and any complication that is, total or partial failure and early or delayed unplanned return to the operating room (n = 80, P = 0.002). Of the flaps used, multivariate analysis revealed that latissimus flaps had higher odds for failure., Conclusions: Soft-tissue defect size ≥200 cm can be associated with a higher rate of total or partial flap failure and any complication in acute trauma setting, which may be due to a larger zone of injury, a higher level of difficulty in achieving complete debridement, and a more complex microvascular dissection. Current and future efforts will need to continue to focus on risk stratification for limb salvage efforts because an accurate assessment of risk is important to the patient, health care provider, and the health care system in general., Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Unlabelled: The reamer-irrigator-aspirator (RIA) is a device that has recently been developed to retrieve bone graft from the medullary canal of the femur and the tibia. As for most new surgical procedures, complications arise as part of the learning curve and/or imperfections in the design or technique. To increase awareness of potential complications and to prevent unnecessary harm to the patient, new complications need to be reported. We present case reports of 2 patients who developed severe intraoperative cardiac events presumably caused by excessive and rapid blood loss during RIA bone graft harvesting. This complication has not been described before. Increased awareness of excessive blood loss and subsequent cardiac events during an RIA procedure is warranted., Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Objectives: The aim of this study was a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing early (<6 hours) versus late (>6 hours) surgical debridement of open tibial fractures, with regards to infection and nonunion rates., Methods: A systematic literature search of MEDLINE, Excerpta Medica Database, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (1961 to present), Allied and Complementary Medicine, and COCHRANE databases was conducted using any combination of the key words: "open," "tibial," and "fractures." After appropriate screening, 7 studies were included for analysis. Inclusion criteria were studies assessing the relation between time to debridement from injury and infection and/or nonunion rates., Results: Three studies (n = 365) evaluated overall infection rates that varied from 7.7% to 8.9% in the early group versus 1%-18.5% in the late group. Three studies (n = 197) evaluated deep infection rates that varied from 13% to 18.5% in the early group versus 7.1%-18.6% in the late group. Four studies (n = 245) evaluated nonunion rates that varied from 13.2% to 26.1% in the early group versus 0%-32.6% in the late group. Meta-analysis showed no statistical difference between groups with regards to overall infection rates (risk ratio = 1.32; 95% CI, 0.54-3.23; P = 0.55), deep infection rates (risk ratio = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.48-2.07; P = 0.98), and nonunion rates (risk ratio = 1.49; 95% CI, 0.64-3.49; P = 0.36)., Conclusions: The available literature suggests that there is no obvious difference in the overall/deep infection and nonunion rates between open tibial fractures debrided within 6 hours and those debrided at more than 6 hours. The findings presented here would appear to indicate that judicious delays of greater than 6 hours may not result in a significantly increased risk of adverse events or peri-operative morbidity., Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Objectives: This study compared results of aggressive and nonaggressive debridement protocols for the treatment of high-energy, open supracondylar femur fractures after the primary procedure, with respect to the requirement for secondary bone grafting procedures, and deep infection., Design: Retrospective review., Setting: Level I and level II trauma centers., Patients/participants: Twenty-nine consecutive patients with high-grade, open (Gustilo types II and III) supracondylar femur fractures (OTA/AO 33A and C) treated with debridement and locked plating., Intervention: Surgeons at 2 different level I trauma centers had different debridement protocols for open supracondylar femur fractures. One center used a more aggressive (MA) protocol in their patients (n = 17) that included removal of all devitalized bone and placement of antibiotic cement spacers to fill large segmental defects. The other center used a less aggressive (LA) protocol in their patients (n = 12) that included debridement of grossly contaminated bone with retention of other bone fragments and no use of antibiotic cement spacers. All other aspects of the treatment protocol at the 2 centers were similar: definitive fixation with locked plates in all cases, IV antibiotics were used until definitive wound closure, and weight bearing was advanced upon clinical and radiographic evidence of fracture healing., Main Outcome Measurements: Healing after the primary procedure, requirement for secondary bone grafting procedures, and the presence of deep infection., Results: Demographics were similar between included patients at each center with regard to age, gender, rate of open fractures, open fracture classification, mechanism, and smoking (P > 0.05). Patients at the MA center were more often diabetic (P < 0.05). Cement spacers to fill segmental defects were used more often after MA debridement (35% vs. 0%, P < 0.006), and more patients had a plan for staged bone grafting after MA debridement (71% vs. 8%, P < 0.006). Healing after the index fixation procedure occurred more often after LA debridement (92% vs. 35%, P < 0.003). There was no difference in infection rate between the 2 protocols: 25% with the LA protocol and 18% with the MA protocol (P = 0.63). All patients in both groups eventually healed and were without evidence of infection at an average of 1.8 years of follow-up., Conclusions: The degree to which bone should be debrided after a high-energy, high-grade, open supracondylar femur fracture is a matter of surgeon judgment and falls along a continuous spectrum. Based on the results of the current study, the theoretic trade-off between infection risk and osseous healing potential seems to favor an LA approach toward bone debridement in the initial treatment., Level of Evidence: Therapeutic level III.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) after severe open fractures on deep infection., Design: Prospective randomized study., Setting: Academic level I trauma center., Patients/participants: Fifty-nine patients with 63 severe high-energy open fractures were enrolled in this study, with data available on 58 patients with 62 open fractures., Intervention: Twenty-three patients with 25 fractures randomized to the control group and underwent initial irrigation and debridement followed by standard fine mesh gauze dressing, with repeat irrigation and debridement every 48-72 hours until wound closure. Thirty-five patients randomized to the NPWT group and had identical treatment except that NPWT was applied to the wounds between irrigation and debridement procedures until closure., Main Outcome Measurements: The presence or absence of deep wound infection or osteomyelitis, wound dehiscence, and fracture union were primary outcome measures., Results and Conclusions: Control patients developed 2 acute infections (8%) and 5 delayed infections (20%), for a total of 7 deep infections (28%), whereas NPWT patients developed 0 acute infections, 2 delayed infections (5.4%), for a total of 2 deep infections (5.4%). There is a significant difference between the groups for total infections (P = 0.024). The relative risk ratio is 0.199 (95% confidence interval: 0.045-0.874), suggesting that patients treated with NPWT were only one-fifth as likely to have an infection compared with patients randomized to the control group. NPWT represents a promising new therapy for severe open fractures after high-energy trauma.

Objectives: To evaluate the results in patients with open AO/OTA type C3 pilon fractures with segmental bone loss who were treated with a standard treatment protocol., Design: Retrospective case series., Setting: Level I trauma center., Patients/participants: Of 117 acute open type C pilon fractures treated during the study period, 10 patients with AO/OTA type C3 fractures and segmental metaphyseal bone loss were amenable to treatment with a standard protocol., Intervention: All patients were treated with immediate debridement and external fixation (stage 1). After a delay of 1-3 weeks, patients with a healthy-appearing soft tissue envelope and no sign of infection underwent open reduction, plate fixation, and antibiotic bead placement (stage 2). Several months later, planned bone grafting was performed (stage 3)., Main Outcome Measurements: The complication rate, additional procedures, and time to bony union were determined., Results: The treatment protocol was able to be completed in all 10 patients. No cases of acute infection or wound necrosis after plate fixation and antibiotic bead placement occurred. Two cases of late infection occurred after delayed bone grafting, one of which was successfully treated and the other resulted in amputation. Nine of the 10 patients healed at an average of 24 weeks., Conclusions: Limb salvage in the most severe open pilon fractures is difficult. In patients with benign soft tissues at several weeks after temporary external fixation, open reduction, antibiotic bead placement, and a delayed bone grafting procedure are associated with a low complication rate and predictable fracture healing.

Objectives: To evaluate fracture reduction, femoral head viability, and outcome of selected acetabular fractures treated operatively using a modified Kocher-Langenbeck approach with a trochanteric flip osteotomy and surgical dislocation of the femoral head., Design: Prospective., Patients: Twelve patients predominantly with combined transverse and posterior wall fractures or multifragmentary posterior wall fractures. OUTCOME EVALUATION: Clinical and radiographic analysis after a minimum 2-year follow-up., Methods: A single modified approach, including anterior ( = 8) or posterior ( = 4) surgical dislocation of the femoral head, was done in 12 patients for one or more of following reasons: intra-articular assessment of reduction in fractures with comminution, marginal impaction and involvement of the anterior column, removal of intra-articular fragments, and confirmation of extra-articular screw placement., Results: At a mean follow-up of 35 months (24-48 months), the 12 patients presented with a good to excellent clinical result according to the D'Aubigné score. One patient developed postoperative osteoarthritic changes after an imperfect reduction. No heterotopic ossification interfering with hip function was found. None of the hip joints developed signs of avascular necrosis of the femoral head, even though seven patients sustained a posterior dislocation at time of the injury., Conclusion: This study indicates that this technique for surgical dislocation of the femoral head is safe and facilitates assessment of fracture reduction in selected acetabular fractures.