2017 AAOS Annual Meeting: Health-related Quality of Life Following Operative Management of Open Fractures

2,447 patients with an open wound fracture were originally included in this randomized 2x3 factorial design trial evaluating the use of different irrigation solutions (soap or saline) and pressures (very low, low, high) on the rate of reoperation and clinical outcomes. This was a secondary analysis of this trial conducted to determine the effect of these interventions on health-related quality-of-life (HR-QoL) and function at a follow-up of 12-months, and to describe the progression of HR-QoL and function of this patient population, in general. The results indicated that patients did not reach pre-injury levels of function or HR-QoL at 12-month follow-up, and that there were no significant differences in HR-QoL or functional outcomes between irrigation solutions (soap or saline) or irrigation pressures.