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Open Fractures

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Practice of Intramedullary Locked Nails

The management of open fractures has changed dramatically over the last 15–20 years mainly as a result of improved plastic surgery techniques, but also because orthopedic surgeons have become more aware of the importance of debridement and early soft tissue cover and are now less absorbed by the minutiae of fracture fixation. It is interesting to note that the use of free flaps and local fasciocutaneous flaps only became widespread in the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Previously orthopedic surgeons had been more concerned with applying the perfect plate or debating the biomechanical aspects of external fixation than with treating the soft tissue injuries associated with fractures. Improved results in the management of open fractures have mainly arisen as a result of improved flap cover and the re-emergence of intramedullary nailing as the preferred treatment option.

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Authors
  1. C. M. Court-Brown
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  2. A. C. Masquelet
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  3. B. Schenck
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. AIOD, 16 Rue du Parc, 67205, Straßbourg, France

    I. Kempf

  2. Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China

    K. S. Leung

  3. Centre de Traumatologie et d’Orthopédie, 10 Avenue A. Baumann, 67400, Straßbourg, France

    A. Grosse  & G. Taglang  & 

  4. Department of Surgery, Academisch Ziekenhuis, De Boelelaan 1117, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    H. J. T. M. Haarman

  5. Abteilung für Unfallchirurgie, Allgemeines Krankenhaus Wandsbeck, Alphonsstraße 14, 22043, Hamburg, Germany

    H. Seidel

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Court-Brown, C.M., Masquelet, A.C., Schenck, B. (2002). Open Fractures. In: Kempf, I., Leung, K.S., Grosse, A., Haarman, H.J.T.M., Seidel, H., Taglang, G. (eds) Practice of Intramedullary Locked Nails. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56337-9_5

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