Objectives: We evaluated the results of patients who were treated with Ilizarov external fixation for type II and III open tibial fractures.
Methods: Forty-five patients (4 females, 41 males; mean age 33 years; range 8 to 65 years) with open tibial fractures were treated with the Ilizarov external fixator. According to the Gustilo-Mendoza classification, the fractures were type II, IIIA, IIIB, and IIIC in 12, 20, 9, and 4 patients, respectively. The mean follow-up was 58 months and 4 days (range 42 months 10 days to 66 months and 11 days). The fixators were applied for a mean of 17.2 weeks (range 6.8 to 55.7 weeks). Results: Union was achieved in all cases. A significant difference was observed between type II and III fractures in terms of time to union (p