Children with open tibial fractures show significantly lower infection rates than adults: clinical comparative study

摘要

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the surgical site infection (SSI) rates of children and adults after open tibia fracture at a single medical centre.MethodsA retrospective study was performed on patients who sustained open tibia fractures and who received treatment at our hospital from 2012 to 2016. Data on age, gender, fracture site, Gustilo-Anderson grade, treatment management, and culture results from the infection site were recorded.ResultsOverall, 37 children with a mean age of 7.192.28years and 89 adults with a mean age of 40.38 +/- 13.53years were enrolled. The rate of SSIs was 13.5% (6/37) in children, which was significantly lower than the 21.3% (19/89) rate in adults (p<0.001). The mean number of days to discharge was 12.86 +/- 10.25 in children, which was significantly lower than the mean of 28.67 +/- 16.92days in adults (p<0.001). Furthermore, the average waiting time for soft tissue recovery before definitive surgery was 1.41 +/- 1.79 and 8.42 +/- 4.38days in children and in adults, respectively, and the difference was significant (p<0.001). Early infection occurred more frequently in adults (5/19) than in children (0/6). Staphylococcus aureus was the most commonly found pathogen in both groups.Conclusion The SSI rate of paediatric patients after open tibia fracture fixation is significantly lower than that of adults, and the prognosis of the former is superior. The results indicate a superior ability of soft tissue recovery and infection resistance after open tibia fracture fixation among children.