Analysis of the characteristics of patients with open tibial fractures of Gustilo and Anderson type III.

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of patients with Gustilo-Anderson Type III open tibial fractures treated at a tertiary care hospital in São Paulo between January 2013 and August 2014.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional retrospective study. The following data were gathered from the electronic medical records: age; gender; diagnosis; trauma mechanism; comorbidities; associated fractures; Gustilo and Anderson, Tscherne and AO classifications; treatment (initial and definitive); presence of compartment syndrome; primary and secondary amputations; MESS (Mangled Extremity Severity Score) index; mortality rate; and infection rate.