Lower limb open fractures are severe injuries, with a joint orthoplastic approach for management recommended by BOAST. An initial audit highlighted a discrepancy in time to definitive wound coverage between the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH), which at the time was not an orthoplastic centre, and the Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) which was. Our aim was to perform a secondary audit to identify if the introduction of an orthoplastic service at the QEUH led to a reduction in time to definitive wound coverage. Forty-six patients with open lower limb fractures treated at the QEUH in 2019 following introduction of the orthoplastic service were identified. Management including time to antibiotics and wound coverage, and rates of complication were compared with previous audit data.Introduction
Materials and Methods
