Open fracture of the tibia in children

The records of eighty-three children who had had an open fracture of the tibial metaphysis or diaphysis between January 1983 and July, 1993 were studied retrospectively. The average duration of follow-up was fourteen months (range, two to seventy-five months). There were twenty-four grade-I, forty grade-II, thirteen grade-IIIA, six grade-IIIB, and no grade-IIIC fractures, according to the classification scheme of Gustilo et al. Sixty patients (72 per cent) had sustained the fracture when they were struck by an automobile, and forty-eight patients (58 per cent) had other associated major injuries. All fractures were treated with irrigation and débridement, and antibiotics were administered parenterally for a minimum of forty-eight hours. Thirty-two patients were managed with immobilization in a cast only; forty, with transcutaneous fixation with an average of two Steinmann pins followed by immobilization in a cast; nine, with external fixation; one, with open reduction and internal fixation with two screws and two pins; and one, with delayed intramedullary nailing. Fifty-seven wounds were closed primarily (forty-four, over a Penrose drain, and thirteen, without a drain), ten were treated with delayed closure, four were allowed to heal by secondary intention, seven were covered with a soft-tissue flap, and five were treated with skin-grafting (a split-thickness skin graft was used for four, and a split-thickness and a full-thickness skin graft were used for one). The average time to union was fifteen weeks (range, five to sixty-one weeks), with the fracture healing by sixteen weeks in sixty-four patients (77 per cent). Eighteen patients (22 per cent) had delayed union, and only one patient (1 per cent) had non-union. Secondary procedures were necessary to achieve union in only two patients. Two patients had a superficial wound infection, and no patient had osteomyelitis. One patient, who had been managed with external fixation, had a pin-track infection; none of the patients who had had transcutaneous fixation had a pin-track infection. Two patients had a compartment syndrome, and two patients had a transient stretch injury of a nerve (the peroneal nerve in one and the sciatic nerve in the other). Four fractures healed with an angulatory deformity of more than 10 degrees in any plane. Five patients had overgrowth of the limb of one centimeter or more. Physeal arrest did not occur in any patient. We concluded that treatment of unstable open fractures of the tibia in children with débridement and transcutaneous fixation followed by immobilization in a cast leads to good anatomical and functional results. We prefer this technique to external fixation, which is associated with several potential complications. Loose closure of a clean open wound over a Penrose drain is effective and can be safely utilized in selected children.