Abstract
Background and Objectives. There are various classifications to assess the degree of open fracture and each has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. We proposed a new system since we couldn’t find any which was simple, objective, reliable, reproducible and applicable in an emergency setting. We set five variables namely, skin break, bone damage, muscle injury, neurovascular impairment and the degree of contamination to make scoring. We needed to know if the proposed classification had a better reliability, was simple, objective and applicable.
Design and Setting. A proposed diagnostic testing was set to better classifying the degree and severity open fractures. Every patient with open lower leg fracture was classified with the proposed Sardjito Scoring System. The residents on duty, medical students and nurse staffs were then asked to classify them with the proposed scoring Gustilo system . The debridement reports were used to be the standard as a comparison of the classification made by the residents, medical student and nurse staffs.
Main Outcome Measurements. The classifications made by the residents, medical students and nurses were compared with the finding during the debridement to measure their reliability with kappa coefficient, sensitivity, specivity and accuracy.
Results. We had 40 patients with open lower leg fracture. We found exelent reliability among the residents, medical students, and nurses (k: 0.86 p: 0.000).
Conclusion. The proposed Sardjito Scoring system of the open lower leg fracture was so far reliable, making it reproducible and applicable.
The abstracts were prepared by Professor Jegan Krishnan. Correspondence should be addressed to him at the Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park 5047, Australia.
