The Orthoplastic Approach: Principles Integrating Orthopedic and Plastic Surgery in Trauma Care

Complex extremity trauma presents a major reconstructive challenge because it simultaneously involves skeletal injury, soft-tissue loss, vascular compromise, contamination, and functional impairment. The orthoplastic approach has emerged as an integrated model that promotes early collaboration between orthopedic trauma and reconstructive plastic surgery teams to optimize limb salvage and recovery. This structured narrative review examined the principles, reconstructive strategies, organizational models, and clinical implications of orthoplastic management through a structured search of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. The reviewed literature consistently demonstrated that early multidisciplinary reconstruction, particularly protocol-driven orthoplastic pathways and coordinated fix-and-flap strategies, was associated with lower infection rates, improved reconstructive efficiency, higher limb-salvage rates, and better functional recovery. Conversely, delayed or fragmented management was consistently linked to increased complications, prolonged reconstruction, and less favorable outcomes. Beyond surgical technique, successful reconstruction depended on coordinated multidisciplinary planning and systems-based organization. Overall, the orthoplastic approach represents a paradigm shift in contemporary trauma care, emphasizing integrated, time-sensitive reconstruction to achieve durable limb preservation and functional restoration.