Introduction:

Long bone fractures are common; among them the tibia presents a high incidence. They are not only common, but often difficult to treat. Its subcutaneous location causes complications such as open fractures, pseudoarthrosis and defective consolidations.

Objective:

To determine the clinical-epidemiological characteristics of patients with open fracture of the tibia treated with external fixation.

Method:

A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out. The universe consisted of 134 patients with a diagnosis of open fracture of the tibia. Sixty-four injured patients who met the inclusion criteria were chosen. The variables age, sex, etiology, anatomical location, classification and fracture line were analyzed, in addition to the type of external fixator used and complications.

Results:

The most affected age group was 28-37 years old, with 60.9 % of the total. There was a predominance of the male sex for 95.3 %. The car accident prevailed as the cause of the injury with 54.7 %. The Ilizarov external fixator is the most used model for 89.7 % to treat open fracture of the tibia and associated complications.

Conclusions:

The open fracture of the tibia predominates in males between the third and fourth decade of life; traffic accidents are the main cause of this traumatic injury, and the Ilizarov external fixator is the most widely used model for treating open tibial fractures and associated complications.

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