[Meaning of living with external fixation for grade III open fracture of lower limbs: patient view].

The present study is aimed to understand the meaning of living with an external fixation device for grade III open fractures of the lower limbs from the perspective of the patient. The data were collected with six young adults who were undergoing outpatient orthopedic treatment in a public hospital in the city of São Paulo, through semi-structured interviews with open questions, between June and August 2010. Seeking to understand the meaning of this experience, we have maintained a phenomenological attitude during the analysis, which made it possible to reveal the phenomenon "try to live in spite of feeling trapped in a cage." Patients said that their personal desire and support from others helped them reorganize their lives, despite the several challenges they had to overcome to adapt to the fastener attached to their body and the fear of the future and doubts about the success of treatment.