Supracutaneous plate: A comparable alternative to external fixator in the treatment of open fracture

Abstract

Open fracture is one of the common health care problems in clinical orthopedic practice. Incidence of open fracture rate is increasing, especially in working age groups in industrialized society. Treatment of open fractures is still challenging since surgeons have to tackle not only fracture and also risk of infection, soft tissue coverage and neurovascular injury. Traditionally, external fixator (EF) device was used to fix the open fracture as an emergency or definitive management. In recent years, there was the introduction of locked compression plate (LCP) as an alternative to the conventional external fixator. There are not too many studies regarding the outcome, biomechanics and complications regarding LCP as an external fixator. Based on the available resources, we have reviewed some journals. We would like to comment that usage of LCP as an external fixator in the treatment of long bone fractures shows acceptable outcome. There is no significant difference in operation time between LCP and EF. The rates of union and complication are comparable to that of the conventional external fixator. There is no enough report about a biomechanical comparison study between LCP and EF. Patient acceptance may be higher in LCP than in EF however; there is very little research for the time being. We would like to recommend further research in this area.