The contaminated high-energy open fracture: A protocol to prevent and treat inflammatory mediator storm-induced soft-tissue compartment syndrome (IMSICS)

The treatment modalities currently used in surgical débridement leave the traumatic wound with viable but tenuous tissue and a variable level of microcontaminants potentially laden with bacteria. In high-energy contaminated wounds, retention of these contaminants within the tenuous tissue of the so-called zone of stasis can result in further tissue necrosis and the development of infection. A novel protocol for managing the high-energy contaminated open fracture involves two new techniques. First, Bernoulli's principle is used to facilitate a systematic excision of contaminants, as well as the wound surface to which they are adsorbed, by means of a high-velocity fluid stream. Second, topical negative pressure is established as a means to resuscitate the remaining edema-laden wound tissue to help avoid embarrassment to microcirculatory blood flow.