Il fissatore esterno nel trattamento in urgenza delle fratture esposte: indicazioni e limiti all'impiego del fissatore esterno assiale

The author's opinion in order to immediate (5/6 hours) surgical treatment of open fractures is justified by: the operation is performed on a healthy patient (before the appearance of the traumatic illness), the operation starts before the microbic moltiplication and it is easier to treat a fresh fracture. This surgery had been performed since the year 1962. Th evolution of this surgical practice is shown. In the recent years they have been gradually applied more the external fixation. The surgical indication of various external tecniques is exposed showing some of personal cases. In particular the Axial External Fixation is proposed and analized. Conclusion accept the external fixation in emergency as the best treatment of open fractures and fractures with associated other injuries. WE present 649 open fractures treated in emergency, and 107 treated with external fixation.