5 Key Takeaways

• 1

  Acute knee sepsis is rare after intramedullary nailing of open tibial shaft fractures, occurring in 0.7% of cases.

• 2

  The study analyzed 293 patients with 295 fractures treated at two Level I trauma centers from 2010 to 2023.

• 3

  Knee sepsis rates were 1.1% for intra-articular nailing and 0.5% for extra-articular nailing, with no significant difference.

• 4

  Deep infections occurred in 9% of both nailing approaches, while superficial infections were 4% for intra-articular and 5% for extra-articular.

• 5

  The study's limitations include its retrospective design, small number of sepsis events, and a minimum follow-up of 3 months.