The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review of the literature on Gustilo-Anderson (GA) type IIIB open tibial shaft (AO-42) injuries to determine the consistency of reporting in the literature.

A search of PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was performed to identify relevant studies published from January 2000 to January 2021 using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. The study was registered using the PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews. Patient/injury demographics, management and outcome reporting were recorded.

There were 32 studies that met the inclusion criteria with a total of 1,947 patients (70.3% male, 29.7% female). There were 6 studies (18.8%) studies that reported on comorbidities and smoking, with mechanism of injury reported in 22 (68.8%). No studies reported on all operative criteria included, with only three studies (9.4%) reporting for time to antibiotics, 14 studies (43.8%) for time from injury to debridement and nine studies (28.1%) for time to definitive fixation. All studies reported on the rate of deep infection, with a high proportion documenting union rate (26/32, 81.3%). However, only two studies reported on mortality or on other post-operative complications (2/32, 6.3%). Only 12 studies (37.5%) provided any patient reported outcomes.

This study has demonstrated a deficiency and a lack of standardized variable and outcome reporting in the orthopaedic literature for Gustilo-Anderson type IIIB open tibial shaft fractures. We propose a future international collaborative Delphi process is needed to standardize.

Femoral shaft fractures are potentially devastating injuries. Despite this, clinical studies of the biomechanics of this injury are lacking. We aimed to clinically evaluate bone behaviour under high and low energy trauma in paediatric, adult and older patients. Single-centre retrospective study identifying all diaphyseal femoral fractures between Feb 2015-Feb 2017. Peri-prosthetic and pathological fractures were excluded. Patients were subdivided into groups 1 (paediatric, <16yo), 2 (adult, 17–55yo) and 3 (older, >55yo) to reflect immature, peak bone age and osteoporotic bone respectively. Chi-Squared analysis assessed significance of bone age to degree of comminution and fracture pattern. A p-value <0.05 was significant. A total 4130 radiographs were analysed with 206 femoral shaft fractures identified. Forty-three patients were excluded with 163 remaining. Group 1, 2 and 3 included 38, 37 and 88 patients respectively. Mean age 50.8 (SD 32.8) with male-to-female ratio of 1:1.2. Groups 1 and 3 included majority simple fractures (35/38 and 62/88 respectively). Group 2 included more comminuted injuries (33/37). Bone age to degree of comminution proved significant (p<0.05) with a bimodal distribution of simple fractures noted in groups 1 and 3. Energy to fracture was significant in group 2, where a high energy injury was associated with comminution (p<0.05). This study is the first to demonstrate an association between fracture comminution and age. Simple femoral shaft fractures showed a bimodal age distribution in paediatric and older patients regardless of mechanism energy. High energy mechanism trauma was directly related to fracture comminution at peak bone age.