Amputation or salvage of type 3B/3C tibial fractures: what the literature says about outcomes.

Reconstructive microsurgical techniques, improvements in skeletal fixation, and aggressive bone grafting have been successful in salvaging high-energy open tibial fractures that would have been amputated in the past. Although limb salvage is often feasible, it is not always advisable-functional outcomes and patient satisfaction are not merely a matter of achieving union and restoring a soft-tissue envelope. This article examines current literature that addresses the complex interplay of salvage and restoration of a functional limb.