Background and objectives: The difficulty in treating the fracture of tibial metaphysis is exemplified by orthopaedists, Since there was no definitive protocol for the treatment of such fractures, the Hybrid External Fixator seemed suitable for such fractures as they combine the advantages of monolateral and circular fixation, It allows early weight bearing and movement of the knee and ankle at all times.
Methods: Fifty patients with tibialmetaphyseal fractures were studied from June 2014 to October 2016 in our institution and followed up for a period of 6-24 months. Results assessed based on IOWA scoring.
Results: 6 patients were lost to follow up before removal of the fixator and 4 patients were lost to follow up after removal of external fixator thus not included in the statistics. All the fractures consolidated at an average of 14 to 16 weeks and the fixators were removed. All but one of the studied fractures resulted in good union. Two cases had delayed union (one proximal and one distal tibia) which resulted in union after bone marrow injection and one case of non-union distal tibia resulted in union after bone grafting. Results according to the IOWA score (knee and ankle for proximal and distal fractures) proximal fractures showed 3(15%) excellent, 12(60%) good and 5(25%) fair results and distal fractures showed 3(15%) excellent, 14(70%) good and 3(15%) fair results.
Interpretation and conclusion: Hybrid external fixator is simple, rapid and straightforward application, reduced surgical time, minimally invasive and adjustable. It has negligible complications and resulted in excellent results for this type of fractures.
