Open fracture

Last revised by Domenico Nicoletti ◉ on 4 Feb 2023

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Hacking C, Nicoletti D, Sharma R, et al. Open fracture. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 18 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-39972

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-39972

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/39972?embed_domain=external.radpair.com%27%5B0%5D%27%5B0%5Dfavicon.icofavicon.icofavicon.ico

rID:

39972

Article created:

30 Sep 2015, Craig Hacking ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Craig Hacking had no recorded disclosures.

View Craig Hacking's current disclosures

Last revised:

4 Feb 2023, Domenico Nicoletti ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Domenico Nicoletti had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Domenico Nicoletti's current disclosures

Revisions:

10 times, by 7 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Musculoskeletal, Trauma

Tags:

stub

Synonyms:

Open fractures
Compound fracture
Open fracture-dislocation
Compound fracture-dislocation
Compound fractures
Open #
Compound #
Compound dislocation
open dislocation

An open or compound fracture or dislocation (antonym: closed fracture) refers to a fracture or dislocation associated with soft tissue injury where the fractured bone or dislocated joint is in direct communication with the outside environment.

It is of surgical importance due to the high risk of microbial contamination and hence almost always treated with surgical decontamination. There is also an increased risk of healing complications ¹.

Please see the Gustilo Anderson classification of open fractures for detailed descriptions of grading soft tissue injury associated with open fractures and dislocations.