ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To determine whether long bone fractures cause bacterial translocation and to investigate the effect of concomitant head trauma on this process. DESIGN: An in vivo animal model. SETTING: Animal Laboratory, University of Mersin School of Medicine, Mersin, Turkey. SUBJECTS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 60). INTERVENTION: Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups: (1). anesthesia only (control group, n = 12); (2). anesthesia and tibia fracture (n = 12); (3). anesthesia, tibia fracture, and femur fracture (n = 12); (4). anesthesia, tibia fracture, femur fracture, and moderate head trauma (n = 12); and (5). moderate head trauma only (n = 12). After 24 hours, mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, spleen, ileum, and systemic blood samples were quantitatively cultured for aerobic organisms. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Colony-forming unit per gram for bacteria count. RESULTS: The incidence of bacterial translocation was higher in groups that had fractures (4/12 in group 2; 5/12 in group 3) than in the control group (2/12); however, this did not reach statistical significance. There was a significant increase in the number of subjects with bacterial translocation in group 4 (9/12) compared with the control group and group 5 (3/12) (P = 0.0123, P = 0.0391). CONCLUSIONS: Multiple fractures of long bones associated with head injury promote bacterial translocation.
