An interventional study of Formal Operative Treatment and Emergency Department Treatment in Fractures, Open, sponsored by Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 3 Years to 14 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-01.
Sponsored by Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Open fractures are frequently encountered in orthopaedics. Treatment usually calls for a formal, operative procedure in which the bone is exposed, foreign tissue is debrided and the wound is irrigated. While this is the current standard of care, not all open fractures are equal. In retrospective studies, centers are reporting less aggressive operative management for open fractures may result in equal results without the time and expense of the operative theater. The investigators propose a prospective, randomized trial of children with type I open fractures to evaluate whether formal operative treatment is necessary. The investigators' hypothesis is that minor open fractures can be safely treated in the emergency room with irrigation, closed reduction and home antibiotics without an increased risk of infection or other complications. Children who meet the study criteria will be randomized into two treatment arms - formal operative management (OR) and emergency department (ED) management. Outcomes from each group will be evaluated and compared, including rate of infection, number of return visits to the operating room, time to union, and other complications.
Fractures in which bone has been exposed to the outside world through an associated skin injury, known as open fractures, are frequently encountered in orthopaedics. Traditionally, treatment calls for a formal, operative treatment in which the bone is exposed, foreign tissue is debrided and the wound is irrigated. The bone itself, depending on the age of the patient, fracture location and stability is then treated by the appropriate method of casting or internal fixation. However, while this is the current standard of care for all open fractures, not all open fractures are the same and can differ in terms of the bone involved, energy causing the injury and the skeletal maturity of the patient. Children, for example, have a thick periosteum which may diminish the rate of infection and decrease the time to healing. In addition, the protocol of operative debridement was introduced at the same time as widespread antibiotic use. It is not known whether the mechanical operative management or antibiotic use has resulted in improved outcomes. In retrospective studies, centers are reporting emergency department management alone may result in equal results without the time and expense of the operative theater.
The investigators propose a prospective, randomized trial of children with type I open fractures to evaluate whether formal operative treatment is necessary. The investigators hypothesize that minor open fractures in children can be safely treated in the emergency room with irrigation, closed reduction and home antibiotics without an increased risk of infection or other complications. If the inclusion criteria is met and informed consent is obtained, children will be randomized into two treatment arms - formal operative management (OR) and emergency department (ED) management. Children randomized to the OR arm will be taken to the OR within 24 hours for irrigation and debridement and appropriate bone management. Children in the ED arm will have a washout in the emergency room under conscious sedation, a closed reduction and home antibiotics. Both wounds will be examined at interval follow up periods for signs of infection. Outcomes evaluated will include the rate of infection, the number of return visits to the operating room, the time to bone healing, and other complications. This is a pilot study with the plan of eventually being a multicenter study evaluating open fracture care in children.
53 studies on the registry are indexed under Fractures, Open; 14 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 300 is above the median of 90 across 40 interventional studies indexed under Fractures, Open.
Browse Fractures, Open studies →Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago is the lead sponsor of 180 studies on the registry; 28 are open to participants now.
Of its 10 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 5 (50%) have results posted.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Children randomized to the formal operative management arm will be taken to the Operating Room within 24 hours for irrigation and debridement and appropriate bone management.
Procedure: Formal Operative Treatment
Children in the Emergency Department Treatment arm will have a washout in the emergency room under conscious sedation, a closed reduction and home antibiotics.
Procedure: Emergency Department Treatment
Children randomized to the OR arm will be taken to the OR within 24 hours for irrigation and debridement and appropriate bone management.
Children in the ED arm will have a washout in the emergency room under conscious sedation, a closed reduction and home antibiotics.
Rate of infection
1\. Do patients with type one open fractures treated in the emergency department with irrigation have a non-inferior rate of infections compared to those treated in the operating room with formal irrigation and debridement? The response variable will be the presence of an infection in children with open fractures.
Time frame: 2 weeks
Time to bone healing
2\. Do patients with type I open fractures who are treated nonoperatively have a non-inferior time to bone healing when compared to those treated operatively? The response variable will be time to clinical and radiographic fracture healing.
Time frame: 24 weeks
Return visits to OR
Number of return visits to the operating room
Time frame: 24 weeks
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