Ilizarov technique combined with vancomycin bone cement for treatment of posttraumatic tibial bone infection combined with bone and soft tissue defects / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the effect of Ilizarov bone transport technique combined with vancomycin bone cement for treatment of posttraumatic tibial bone infection combined with bone and soft tissue defects.Methods:A retrospective case series study was performed on 11 patients with posttraumatic tibial bone infection combined with bone and soft tissue defects admitted to First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from June 2016 to June 2019.There were 7 males and 4 females, with age of 21-56 years [(41.5±12.1)years]. After debridement, the length of bone defect was 4-13.2 cm [(8.1±2.6)cm], and the area of soft tissue defect was 6.5-23.4 cm 2 [(16.2±4.7)cm 2]. All patients were treated firstly with debridement of bone infection and vancomycin loaded bone cement pad filling, followed by Ilizarov technique to repair bone and soft tissue defects. The soft tissue docking time, fracture docking time, external fixation time and external fixation index were recorded. At the last follow-up, Johner wruhs score was used to evaluate the curative effect and American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle hindfoot score to evaluate the ankle joint function. The postoperative complications were observed. Results:All patients were followed up for 17-23 months [(17.9±4.5)months]. The soft tissue docking time was 48-155 days [(101.7±29.0)days] and fracture docking time was 55-167 days [(111.6±29.5)days]. The external fixation time was 154-450 days [(322.9±86.3)days] with an external fixation index of 31.1-61.5 cm/day [(40.8+ 7.5)cm/day]. At the last follow-up, the results were excellent in 2 patients, good in 4 and fair in 5 based on Johner-Wruhs score. At the last follow-up, the AOFAS ankle hindfoot score was 61-94 points [(76.6±12.7)points], with excellent results in 3 patients, good in 2 and fair in 6. Four patients were treated with secondary operation, and two of them bad docking site nonunion which healed after secondary bone grafting. No free or local transposition flap repair was performed in regardless of soft tissue defect. During the follow-up, there were no complications such as fever, wound weeping, soft tissue necrosis or neurovascular injury.Conclusion:For posttraumatic tibial bone infection combined with bone and soft tissue defects, the Ilizarov bone transport technique combined with vancomycin-loaded bone cement has advantage of shorter operation time, trauma and complications, and can achieve bone lengthening and soft tissue healing simultaneously.