The tibial fracture was the most common fracture of the long bone fractures, especially there were many controversies in the treatment of open fracture by high energy injury.

The authors analyzed retrospectively 32 patients of tibial open fracture who underwent unlearned intramedullary nailing at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Lee-Rha general hospital from September 1992 to August 1994 with minimal 1 year follow up.

In 32 cases, the average age was 37.5 years old and the most common injury was traffic accident(25 cases,78%). Twenty seven cases were male(84.4%) and 5 cases female(15.5%). There were 17 cases of Type A fracture(53%),12 cases Type B(37.5%) and 3 cases Type C(19.5%) by A-O classification, and 11 cases were Type I open fracture(34%) by Gustilo - Anderson classification, 15 cases, Type B (47%) and 6 cases, Type III (19%). The average bone union time was 14.8 weeks except one case of infected non-union.

We concluded that unlearned intramedullary nailing is recommended for the compatible treatment metnod of tibial open fractures.