Open tibial shaft fracture treatment with plating within 6 hours and between 6-24 hours after injury

Background: Open tibial shaft fractures are usually complicated injuries that require the collaboration of a surgical team consisting of orthopedic, plastic, and vascular surgeons to control the inflicted harms. There are different fixation methods, such as plating. This study aimed at comparing open tibial shaft fracture treatment with plating within 6 hours and between 6-24 hours after injury. Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 30 patients with open tibial shaft fracture (Gustilo Type I and Type II), admitted to the Shahid Rahnemoon Hospital in Yazd. The patients were divided into two groups. The first group was treated with plating within 6 hours after injury (Group 1). The second group was treated with plating between 6-24 hours after injury (Group 2). The outcome of patients in both groups in terms of infection, delayed union, non-union, malunion, and reoperation was determined. Finally, the results were statistically analyzed in SPSS18. Results: The mean age of patients was 23.19±6 years. There was no significant relationship between the two groups in terms of age, sex, postoperative infection, need for reoperation, delayed union, and malunion (P-value 0.05). Conclusion: According to our findings, plating within 6 hours and plating between 6-24 hours had not any differences in the rate of complications.