Functional outcome of limb reconstruction system in lower limb compound fractures: A prospective study

Functional outcome of limb reconstruction system in lower limb compound fractures: A prospective study - The study aims to assess the functional and radiological outcome of limb reconstruction system in lower limb compound fractures. Open fractures of the lower limb long bones continues to be challenging for orthopaedic surgeon and the treatment option ranges from external fixators, nailing, ring fixators, bone grafting, soft tissue reconstruction. Limb reconstruction system (LRS) provides rigid fixation for fracture fragment and it’s easy to treat soft tissue injury and it provides early mobilisation to achieve pre-injury status & activities. A prospective study of 20 cases with open fractures of lower limb long bones with age group between 20 to 60 years of both the sexes was done in Institute of Orthopaedics and traumatology, CMCH. Closed fractures and fractures treated conservatively were excluded from the study. Clinical and radiological evaluations were done at specific interval and patients were asked to weight bear to achieve early union. Function outcome was assessed by Association for the study and application of methods of Illizarov (ASAMI) criteria. The mean age of the patients in this study was 36.85 years with male predominance. Majority of the patients were injured by Road traffic accident and the mean union time of fracture was 29.2 weeks (Ranges 20- 32 weeks). Bone results as per ASAMI scoring were Excellent in 90% (18 /20), good in 5% (1 /20) and poor in 5% (1/20). Functional results as per ASAMI scoring were excellent in 80% (16/20), good in 15% (3/20) and fair in 5% (1/20). The most common complication encountered was pin tract infection which occurred in 3 cases and treated with dressing and antibiotics. LRS found to be simple and effective mode of treatment in case of open fractures of long bone. It is definitive single stage procedure with advantage of early union with early mobilisation, simple surgical technique, easy wound management which avoids multiple surgeries and has high patient compliance. Keywords: Open fracture, Long bone, Tibia, Femur, LRS, ASAMI criteria.