Delayed wound healing, infection, and nonunion following open reduction and internal fixation of tibial plafond fractures.

The literature concerning tibial plafond fractures is briefly reviewed, and a series of 11 tibial plafond fractures of the compressive variety is presented. These fractures fall both prognostically and therapeutically into different categories based upon whether the primary mechanism of injury is rotational or compressive. The severity of the fracture, the degree of contamination, and the severity of concomitant soft-tissue injury in large part appear to determine the morbidity of surgical therapy in these patients. If rigid internal fixation can be performed in those patients with closed injuries that are primarily of the rotational type and performed with a minimum of soft-tissue trauma, this appears to be a reliable alternative in the hands of surgeons experienced with A-O technique and with this type of fracture specifically. In the presence of severe comminution and open wounds, however, the efficacy of rigid internal fixation performed by surgeons without great experience with these types of fracture is dubious.