A delay in flap coverage of open midshaft tibia fractures increases complications: A retrospective study

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Mahmoud, A
Younger, J
Morris, E
Hope, M
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2024
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Abstract

Background: This retrospective study aimed to assess whether delaying flap coverage in open midshaft tibia fractures leads to higher infection rates. Methods: Patients were recruited retrospectively from a tertiary trauma database between 2012 and 2020. Patients included were over 18-years old and had an open tibia fracture that required flap coverage with at least 6 months follow-up. The collected complications were deep infections, aseptic non-union, flap failure and revision surgery. Results: Group-A (n = 18) and Group-B (n = 37) were analysed. Deep infections rate was 6% in Group-A and 38% in Group-B which was significantly different, χ2(1, N = 55) = 6.4, p = 0.01. The rate of revision surgery was 17% in Group-A and 54% in Group-B and was significant, χ2(1, N = 55) = 7, p = 0.008. Binary logistic regression showed that Group-B were 10 times more likely to develop a deep infection (95% confidence interval 1.2–83, p = 0.034). Conclusion: Delaying soft tissue coverage of open tibia fractures for over a week increases the risk of deep infection and revision surgery.

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Journal of Orthopaedics, Trauma and Rehabilitation

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© The Author(s) 2024. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

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Clinical sciences

Allied health and rehabilitation science

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Mahmoud, A; Younger, J; Morris, E; Hope, M, A delay in flap coverage of open midshaft tibia fractures increases complications: A retrospective study, Journal of Orthopaedics, Trauma and Rehabilitation, 2024

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