RT Book, Section A1 Jang, Yohan A1 Gaski, Greg E. A1 Virkus, Walter W. A2 Feliciano, David V. A2 Mattox, Kenneth L. A2 Moore, Ernest E. SR Print(0) ID 1175139752 T1 Lower Extremity T2 Trauma, 9e YR 2020 FD 2020 PB McGraw Hill PP New York, NY SN 9781260143348 LK accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1175139752 RD 2024/11/05 AB KEY POINTSCompartment syndrome, mangled extremities, high-grade open fractures, irreducible dislocations, and fractures with vascular compromise require emergent treatment.Low-grade open fractures, femur fractures, and hip fractures are ideally treated within 24 hours.Evidence shows decreased infection rate for open fractures when antibiotics are administered within 1 hour of admission.Extreme diligence is required in the care of knee dislocations due to a 7% to 15% incidence of injury to the popliteal artery.Unnecessary testing delays surgery, increases costs, and does not provide clinical benefit in geriatric patients with hip fractures.Geriatric hip fractures are often life-changing events, with only 60% of patients returning to preinjury activity level and a 30% 1-year mortality.External fixation is an excellent option for rapid initial stabilization of many fractures in the lower extremities.Non–life-threatening injuries such as pilon, calcaneus, and Lisfranc fractures can have a dramatic long-term negative impact on a patient’s functional status.Advances in prosthetics currently make below-knee amputation a better functional option than limb salvage in many patients.