Recruitment {15}
tibial fracture
When a patient presents with an open tibial fracture that is potentially eligible for inclusion in the study, the orthopedic provider in the emergency department contacts the research coordinator on-call. To avoid missing potentially eligible patients, the research coordinators regularly review the emergency department admissions records twice daily for patients with a diagnosis of open tibial fracture.Upon notification of a potentially eligible patient, pre-screening is performed by coordinators using the medical record and imaging already obtained as part of routine medical care. If eligible based on pre-screening, patients are invited to participate in the study and informed consent is provided. After obtaining consent, the final screening is performed, which includes an intraoperative assessment that the wound is amenable to primary closure.