Treatment of tibiofibular fracture and soft tissue defects by combination of adjacent tissue flap transplant and external fixation / 中国矫形外科杂志

ABSTRACT

[Objective]To discuss the treatment of tibiofibular fracture and soft tissue defects by combination of adjacent tissue flap transplant and external fixation.[Method]Sural neurovascular flaps,saphenous neurocutaneous vascular flaps,gastrocnemius flaps or other tissue flaps were selected to repair soft tissue defects.Among them there were 4.5 cm?3 cm-16 cm?8 cm soft tissue defect respectively,with unilateral or ring external fixators to fix tibia fracture.[Result]In the 15 clinical cases,9 cases were with bone exposure caused by necrosis of soft tissue,3 cases with open tibia and fibula fracture with soft tissue defect,3 cases with non-union of bone fracture with scar.All transplanted flaps survived well.The follow-up time ranged from 12 to 72 months with an average of 36 months.All tibial fracture healed.The function of the lower extremities recovered well.[Conclusion]The application of adjacent tissue flap transplant combined with external fixation technique is very effective in treating tibiofibular fracture with soft tissue defect.