Early Definitive Fracture Fixation is Safely Performed in the Presence of an Open Abdomen in Multiply Injured Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety and feasibility of performing definitive fracture fixation in multiply injured patients in the presence of an open abdomen after laparotomy.

DESIGN: Retrospective observational cohort study.

SETTING: Level-I academic trauma center.

PATIENTS: Adult polytrauma patients with the presence of an open abdomen after "damage control" laparotomy and associated major fractures of long bones, acetabulum, pelvis, or spine, requiring surgical repair (n = 81).

INTERVENTION: Timing of definitive fracture fixation in relation to the timing of abdominal wall closure.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Incidence of orthopedic surgical site infections.

RESULTS: During a 15-year time window from January 1, 2000 until December 31, 2014, we identified a cohort of 294 consecutive polytrauma patients with an open abdomen after laparotomy. Surgical fixation of associated fractures was performed after the index laparotomy in 81 patients. In group 1 (n = 32), fracture fixation occurred significantly sooner despite a concurrent open abdomen, compared with group 2 (n = 49) with abdominal wall closure before fixation (mean 4.4 vs. 11.8 days; P = 0.01). The incidence of orthopaedic surgical site infections requiring a surgical revision was significantly lower in group 1 (3.1%) compared to group 2 (30.6%; P = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS: Definitive fracture fixation in the presence of an open abdomen is performed safely and associated with a significant decrease in clinically relevant surgical site infections, compared with delaying fracture fixation until abdominal wall closure. These data suggest that the strategy of imposing a time delay in orthopaedic procedures while awaiting abdominal wall closure is unjustified.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.