[Open injuries of the knee].

The authors discuss the therapeutic approach to 9 cases with open injuries of the knee which they have encountered during the past 5 years. All patients were hospitalized in a state of serious traumatic shock and all had multiple injuries. All 5 cases were operated on within 2--3 hours of the injury. The authors used the following postulates in treating this type of trauma: prevention of traumatic shock, early meticulous primary surgical treatment of the wound, closure of the joint with the drainage of the synovial cavity and periarticular space, strict immobilization, reinacting the extensor mechanism, fixation of the condylar fragment and the administration of antibiotics. The surgical treatment was restricted to only the minimal, patelectomy (3 cases) sec. McLaughlin, and in one case the medial condyle was fixed to the femur. Postoperative infection was not noted. All five patients returned to full working capacity and exhibited only minimal loss of extension at the knee.