Blast and penetrating fragment injuries to the extremities.

Blast injury to the extremities is the most common form of injury in recent military campaigns and in civilian terror attacks. Most orthopaedic trauma is caused by the secondary effect of blast--penetrating fragment injury. Timely wound débridement and excision of contaminated or avascular tissue, along with prevention of sepsis, are crucial to managing extremity injury. Late reconstruction and functional results are very challenging for the surgical team to achieve.