Biplane osteotomy and bone transport combined external locking plating for sequential treatment of massive tibial bone defects / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To evaluate biplane osteotomy and bone transport combined external locking plating for sequential treatment of massive tibial bone defects.Methods:Twenty-eight patients with massive tibial bone defects were reviewed who had been treated at Department of Repair and Reconstruction, Wuhan Puai Hospital from October 2013 to October 2019. They were divided into a bone transport group and a combined bone transport group (bone transport combined external locking plating) according to their surgical methods. In the bone transport group of 14 cases, there were 10 males and 4 females with an age of (38.6±3.2) years and a bone defect of (8.0±0.5) cm; in the combined bone transport group of 14 cases, there were 9 males and 5 females with an age of (39.1±3.9) years and a bone defect of (8.3±0.3) cm. The time for wearing external fixator, fracture healing time, dock-in-site healing time, postoperative function assessment and complications were observed and compared between the 2 groups.Results:There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in their preoperative general data, showing they were comparable ( P>0.05). The bone transport group were followed up for 12 to 28 months (average, 18.4 months) and the combined bone transport group for 12 to 26 months (average, 16.8 months). The time for wearing external fixator in the combined bone transport group [(8.4±0.7) months] was significantly shorter than that [(13.3±1.4) months] in the bone transport group ( P<0.05). No significant difference was observed between the 2 groups in either the fracture healing time [(8.4±1.3) months versus (7.4±1.2) months] or the dock-in-site healing time [(210.2±9.1) months versus (206.2±9.8) months] ( P>0.05). By the Association for the Study and Application of the Method of Ilizarov (ASAMI) scoring, the bone healing was excellent in 6, good in 5 and fair in 3 cases in the bone transport group while excellent in 8, good in 4 and fair in 2 cases in the combined bone transport group, showing no significant difference between the 2 groups in the excellent to good rate ( P>0.05). By the postoperative functional assessment of the lower extremity, there were 7 excellent, 3 good, 3 fair and one poor cases in the bone transport group while 8 excellent, 5 good and one poor cases in the combined bone transport group, showing no significant difference between the 2 groups in the excellent to good rate ( P>0.05). In the bone transport group, there were 3 cases of pin track infection, one case of dock-in-site nonunion, 2 cases of poor alignment of lower extremities, 2 cases of skin depression, one case of nail loosening, 5 cases of joint stiffness and 3 cases of delayed union of the distracted bone; in the combined bone transport group, there were one case of pin track infection, 2 cases of poor alignment of lower extremities, 3 cases of skin depression, 3 cases of joint stiffness, 2 cases of delayed union of the distracted bone and one case of refracture. Conclusion:In the sequential treatment of massive tibial bone defects, biplane osteotomy and bone transport combined external locking plating can reduce the time for wearing external fixator and increase the satisfaction of patients.