Improving the Care of Severe, Open Fractures and Postoperative Infections of the Lower Extremities: Protocol for an Interdisciplinary Treatment Approach.

Background: Patients with open fractures often experience complications during their injury. The treatments incur high costs. Interdisciplinary cooperation between different medical disciplines may improve treatment outcomes.

[Necrotizing soft tissue infections].

Necrotizing soft tissue infections are a heterogeneous group of severe infections of the skin, connective tissue and muscles in which necrotic destruction of the tissue occurs at the site of infection. Various bacteria are known as "typical" triggering pathogens and the infection can occur on the entire surface of the body. Necrotizing soft tissue infections are always a time-sensitive emergency associated with high mortality.

Fracture-associated infection with Mycobacterium smegmatis in a 16-year old patient.

We present a patient who suffered an agricultural rollover trauma and developed a fracture-associated tissue infection caused by Mycobacterium smegmatis. Since cases are rare, treatment of infections with M. smegmatis requires an interprofessional approach and the combination of surgery and adjunctive antimicrobial treatment.

[Importance of local antibiotics in the prophylaxis and treatment of fracture-associated infections].

Background: Fracture-associated infections (FRI) are a severe complication that lead to higher morbidity and high costs for the healthcare system. An effective prophylaxis and treatment of FRI are therefore of great interest.

Objective: The aim of this review is to summarize the available evidence on the use of local antibiotics for the prophylaxis and treatment of FRI.