Does delay in surgical debridement increase the risk of infection in open tibia fractures in Saudi patients? A retrospective cohort study

Abstract Background Infection is the most common and devastating complication of open fractures, with a reported incidence of 3–40%. Tibia bone along its anteromedial surface has relatively thin soft tissue coverage; hence the open tibia fracture incidence rate ranges from 49.4% to 63.2%. Open fractures are usually classified based on the Gustilo & Anderson classification system, which is used by surgeons as an index for the severity of an injury and as a prognostic tool. Our current practice follows the 6-h rule of irrigation and debridement (ID 87.1% of the fractures were high-energy fractures, and the most common mechanism of injury was a motor vehicle accident (62.4%). The data analysis revealed no difference in overall infectious outcome when comparing initial ID a meta-analysis of the currently available data may provide an answer to this question.