Open tibial shaft fractures.

A change in the management of open tibial shaft fractures provided an opportunity for comparative study. One series of patients was treated nearly exclusively by conservative methods and compared with another series treated by external skeletal transfixation (EST). The latter method was found to be superior. In spite of a number of pin tract infections, EST led to a significantly shorter healing time and fewer pseudarthroses. EST had no effect on the duration of hospital stay.