Results of treatment of open joint injuries with special reference to suction irrigation

ABSTRACT

Forty nine cases of open joint injuries were treated and followed up. Male to female ratio was 4 1. Motor vehicular and fall from a height were the major causative mechanism. The knee and ankle were the mostly affected joints. The cases were classified into types 1, 2, 3 depending on wound size, contamination and osseous injury. There were 17 cases type 1, 20 cases type 2, and 12 type 3. The initial treatment included resuscitation, debridement with minimal internal fixation, whenever possible and systemic use of antibiotics. Suction- irrigation was used in 14 knee cases of type 2 and 3 injuries. The final results were satisfactory in 41 patients and bad in 8 patients. Deep infection developed in 5 patients. Suction-irrigation gave better results than debridement alone in cases of type 2 and 3 knee joint injuries. The severity of injury was also a risk factor. It is recommended that thorough debridement, fixation of large osteochondral fragments, systemic use of antibiotics and use of suction-irrigation in some severe injuries are prerequisites to obtain good functional results: