Displaced tibial shaft fractures: a comparison of treatment methods

Eighty-five overriding tibial shaft fractures (46 open, 39 closed) were treated at Ochsner Foundation Hospital between 1960 and 1972. Nine different treatment methods were employed by seven orthopedic surgeons. The best results were obtained in the nine patients treated by open reduction and either compression plating or external skeletal fixation with compresssion. All healed primarily in the briefest time and none had a complication.