title: Amputation or salvage of type 3B/3C tibial fractures: what the literature says about outcomes.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Tomaino
mesh_terms: D000671:Amputation, Surgical; D000075202:Contraindications; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply; D008866:Microsurgery; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D013978:Tibial Fractures / Q000601:surgery*; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome