Table 1.

Summary of characteristics of included studies.

Author	Year	Country	Study Design	Fractures	Gustilo Anderson					Time Threshold	Outcomes
					I	II	IIIA	IIIB	IIIC
Al-Hourani et al. [29]	2019	UK	Retrospective	45	0	0	0	45	0	6	Deep infection Non-union Flap failure
Ashford et al. [24]	2004	Australia	Retrospective	48	3	10	14	21	0	6	Infection Non-union/delayed union Length of stay
Bednar and Parikh [25]	1993	Canada	Retrospective	52	NR					6	Deep infection
Charalambous et al. [37]	2005	UK	Retrospective	383	33	38	64	0	0	6	Infection Deep infection Secondary procedure to promote bone union
David Sears et al. [32]	2012	US	Retrospective	7560	NR					24, 48, 96 and 120	Amputation
Duyos et al. [38]	2017	Puerto Rico	Retrospective	227	NR					48, 72 and 96	Deep infection
Enninghorst et al. [33]	2011	Australia	Prospective	89	21	27	18	21	1	6	Deep infection Non-union
Harley et al. [39]	2002	Canada	Retrospective	109	19	53	37			8	Deep infection Non union
Hendrickson et al. [30]	2018	UK	Retrospective	116	0	0	0	116	0	12	Deep Infection
Kamat et al. [40]	2011	New Zealand	Retrospective	103	49	32	22			6	Infection
Khatod et al. [26]	2003	US	Retrospective	101	17	46	23	8	7	6	Infection
Kindsfater and Jonassen [27]	1995	US	Retrospective	47	0	25	13	7	2	5	Deep infection (osteomyelitis)
Konbaz et al. [41]	2019	Saudi Arabia	Retrospective	113	13	45	20	28	7	6	Infection
Li et al. [28]	2020	China	Retrospective	215	62	98	26	25	4	6, 12 and 24	Infection
Mener et al. [34]	2020	Georgia	Retrospective	259	NR					24	Infection
Reuss and Cole [42]	2007	US	Retrospective	81	14	19	9	34	5	8	Deep infection Non-union
Singh et al. [31]	2012	UK	Retrospective	67	0	0	26	39	2	6	Deep infection Non-union
Spencer et al. [43]	2004	UK	Prospective	41	0	5	14	11	0	6	Deep infection Non-union
Sungaran et al. [35]	2007	Australia	Retrospective	161	28	35	95			6 and 12	Infection
Tripuraneni et al. [36]	2008	US	Retrospective	215	62	98	26	25	4	6, 12 and 24	Infection
			Total	10,032	321	531	819

NR = Not Reported; UK = United Kingdom; US = United States. Fractures and Gustilo-Anderson classification are reported as frequency. Time threshold portrays the time threshold used (in hours) to differentiate between early and late debridement.