External fixator; functional outcome in open tibial fractures

ABSTRACT

Open Tibial shaft fractures are one of the most common fractures of long bones. External fixation is method of choice for the treatment of open tibial shaft fractures. The subcutaneous location of tibia makes it suitable for the application of external fixator. This study was done on 50 patients at Orthopaedics and Trauma unit "B" at Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, from Jan 2008 to Feb. 2009 to determine functional outcome of A.O. external fixator in open tibial fractures in terms of knee and ankle mobility, pain and gait on full body weight bearing. The data of all patients was entered in standardized proforma and analyzed on SPSS 10. There were 43 [86%] males and 7 [14%] females. There were 17 [34%] type-II and 20 [40%] type IIIA and 13 [26%] type III B fractures. Knee mobility was full [100%] in 49 [98%] cases, 75% in 1[2%]. 43 [86%] cases retained 100% ankle joint mobility while it was 75% in 4 [8%], 50% in 2 [4%] cases and 25% in 1[2%] cases. On full body weight bearing, 42[84%] patients were pain free, and moderate pain was in 4[8%] cases. In 42[84%] cases the gait was completely normal on full body weight bearing while 3[6%] cases showed significant limping. The excellent functional results in our series show that external fixation of tibia is safe and effective in terms of restoring functions of tibia