Open fractures: it doesn't come out in the wash.

Background: Six hours from injury to washout is considered the gold standard in the treatment of open traumatic fractures. Despite this being our hospital policy, the rural nature of our Level I trauma center causes delays in discovery and transport, creating a unique randomization of time to washout. We hypothesized that orthopedic complications after open fractures are related to the severity of the fractures, not the timing of the washout.