The major goals in the treatment of open fractures of the long bones are to prevent infection, avoid malunion or nonunion, achieve bone union, and restore limb and patient function as soon and as fully as possible. The treatment modalities adopted in open fractures still remains controversial, especially in Gustilo-Anderson Type III. It has been the fear of infection that has lead to the traditionally accepted opinion that immediate internal fixation of open fractures is contraindicated but, nowadays, it is no longer tabooed. Owing to the early meticulous wound debridment and irrigation, and the use of bactericidal antibiotics, the infection rate reduced remarkably. Fifty-five cases of open long bone fractures treated by immediate internal fixation within 24 hours from inury were reviewed, which were treated at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Soonchunhyang University hospital for nine and half years from June, 1985 to January, 1995.

The results were as follow:

1, There were 20 Type II , 19 Type III A, 10 Type IIIB and 5 Type IIIC open fractures treated by immediate internal fixation within 24 hours following to Gustilo-Andersons classification.

2. The most common causes of open fractures were traffic accident(84%).

3. The associated injuries of the patients treated by immediate infernal fixation were in sequence.:26 multitraumatized patient, 5 arterial injuries, 5 musculotendinous injuries, 3 major joint dislocations and so forth.

4. Normal bony union was achieved in 41 patients(73.2%), Delayed bony union was in 7 patient(12.5%) and nonunion in 8 patients(14.5%).

5. Primary wound healing was achieved in 40 patients(71.4%), superficial to moderate infection were in 5 patients(9%), deep to osteomyelitis in 11 patients(19.6%).

6. According to the subtypes of open fractures, deep to osteomyelitis were 80% in Type IIIC, 30% in Type IIIB, 10.6% in Type IIIA and 10% in Type II.