Hoffmann osteotaxis for tibial fractures: soft-tissue complications, infection and union in a historical Belgian cohort

Abstract

; selbanna@skynet.be Hoffmann osteotaxis is part of Belgian tibial fracture history. We describe an archival multicentre cohort and examine associations between soft-tissue category, secondary skin necrosis, historically recorded local infection and union outcomes. Aggregate tables from a publicly deposited 1980 Université libre de Bruxelles memoir were transcribed and checked against source totals. The unit of analysis was the fracture. The cohort included 1,147 fresh, initially non-infected tibial fractures treated with Hoffmann external fixation in seven collaborating centres: 890 men and 257 women. Secondary skin necrosis occurred in 164 fractures and recorded local infection in 44. Named historical open-fracture categories showed higher skin-necrosis and infection rates than closed fractures without contusion. Final source-defined outcomes were consolidation in 882 fractures, temporary pseudarthrosis in 38, definitive pseudarthrosis in 100 and unknown in 127. This archive is a historical benchmark, not comparative evidence for current fixation choices.