Surgery, gynecology & obstetrics
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Surg Gynecol Obstet · May 1988
Fasciotomy for severe, blunt and penetrating trauma of the extremity.
Blunt or penetrating injuries to the extremity with vascular or severe soft tissue and skeletal trauma frequently require fasciotomy. Long term follow-up studies of these patients are rare. From 1976 to 1983, 85 patients underwent 39 fasciotomies upon the upper extremities and 57 upon the lower. ⋯ Seven of the patients interviewed were unemployed due to the injuries they received to the extremities. Most symptoms were believed to be due to the severity of the injury, and none were directly attributed to the fasciotomy. When fasciotomy is indicated, it is a safe adjunctive procedure in limb salvage and contributes very little to the long term morbidity of patients with severe trauma to the extremity.