Treating Open Fracture of Lower One Third of Tibia by Ilizarov Technique: A Study in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Bangladesh

Introduction: Illizarov technique is a newer but popular method of treating open tibial fractures after debridement and open reduction. Illizarov method has many advantages and features. On the other hand, open fracture of lower one third of tibia is a common occurrence in the orthopedic treatment arena. Open fractures of tibia are classified into Type I, II, IIIA, IIIB and IIIC. Aim of the study: The aim of this study was to assess the Ilizarov technique in treating open fracture of lower one third of tibia. Methods: This observational prospective study was conducted at the Department of Orthopedics Surgery in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from January 2017 to December 2017. Thirty six (36) patients with open fracture of lower one third of tibia were selected as the study population. Before starting the intervention the written consent of the participants was taken and this study was approved by the ethical committee of the mentioned hospital. A pre-designed questioner was used in collecting patient data. All data were processed, analyzed and disseminated by MS Office and SPSS version 20 as per need. Results: In this study we found highest 80.56% participants were from road accidents followed by 11.11% from sports injury and rest only 8.33% from general falls. The duration of treatment with the fixator was 12-23 weeks (average 16 weeks). The operation time ranged from 90 minutes to 120 minutes. According to the Karlstrom and Olerud criteria the highest 69.44% patient got ‘excellent’ result. Then 22.22%, 5.56% and 2.78% patients got ‘good’, ‘fair’ and ‘poor’ result respectively. Conclusion: The Ilizarov device is used worldwide for the treatment of several types of fractures. In our study, we found some good features of using Ilizarov induced method in the treatment of open fracture of lower one third of tibia. No case developed deep infection, non-union or unacceptable mal-union. We recommend for more use of Ilizarov technic.