Tscherne classification
Trauma and orthopaedics
Also known as: Oestern-Tscherne classification · Tscherne-Klassifikation (Weichteilschaden) · Klassifikation nach Oestern und Tscherne · Tscherne sınıflaması (yumuşak doku hasarı) · Tscherne classification (soft-tissue injury in closed fractures)
What it is for
Grades the soft-tissue damage that accompanies a closed fracture, from the energy and mechanism of injury and the state of skin and muscle.
Classification
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Grade 0 (C0) | little or no soft-tissue injury; simple fracture from indirect force (e.g. spiral fracture). |
| Grade 1 (C1) | superficial abrasion or contusion caused by pressure of fragments from inside; simple to moderately complex fracture. |
| Grade 2 (C2) | deep contaminated abrasion and localised skin or muscle contusion from direct trauma; impending compartment syndrome belongs here; usually complex fracture. |
| Grade 3 (C3) | extensive skin contusion or crush, muscle destruction, subcutaneous degloving (closed avulsion), manifest compartment syndrome or major vascular injury; complex fracture. |
| Open fractures | graded separately in the same publication (open grades O1–O4, the most severe being subtotal or complete amputation). |
Source
A new classification of soft-tissue damage in open and closed fractures (in German)
Unfallheilkunde 1982;85:111–115 (Tscherne H, Oestern HJ)
PMID: 7090085
- Edition
- Tscherne & Oestern 1982 (closed grades C0–C3; a separate open-fracture grading exists)
- Checked on
Summary of the published classification in our own words. Not a substitute for the original publication.
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