Background:There is confusion in the current literature regarding the value of obtaining predebridement wound cultures in the management of open fractures with several studies reporting contrasting results. We undertook a pilot study to determine the initial bacterial flora of open fractures in our environment and determine the correlation between subsequent wound infection if any, and the initial bacterial flora.Materials and Methods:Initial/predebridement wound swabs were obtained for 32 patients with open fractures. Patients underwent a debridement of the open wound and preliminary stabilization of fracture in the operating room within 24 h. Postdebridement wound cultures were obtained at 48 h and repeated subsequently, if indicated, during the follow-up period. The antibiotic therapy was modified based on the culture reports.Results:Initial wound swab culture showed bacterial contamination in 18 patients (56%); 14 patients (44%) developed an infection in the immediate postoperative period or during follow-up. Age, gender, co-morbid medical condition, delay in presentation, and grade of open fracture were not found to be predictors of postoperative infection. No patient had an infection with the same organism, which was present in the initial culture.Conclusion:The findings of this study suggest that the initial flora are not the infecting organisms in the open fracture wounds, and predebridement wound cultures have no value in predicting postdebridement wound infection.
We report the case of a 36-year-old man, who presented to us five months after the initial trauma. He had been treated elsewhere with a cephalomedullary femoral nail. He described severe pain in his right thigh and groin that confined him to a wheelchair. He had shortening of the right lower limb and painful restriction of movements of the right hip. Radiographs demonstrated hypertrophic callus with a gap at the femoral shaft while the neck fracture was in varus malalignment with bone resorption; the neck fracture been fixed using two hip screws that were missing the nail. The patient was managed with removal of the previous hardware, reamed retrograde nailing and Pauwels' intertrochanteric valgus osteotomy fixed using a 120 o double-angled condylar blade plate. Both the fracture sites were not opened. Postoperatively, the femoral shaft showed radiographic evidence of union at three months, while the femoral neck and the intertrochanteric osteotomy site had united at five months. As per the Friedman and Wyman criteria, our patient has a "good" outcome at the four-year follow-up.
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