Free vascularized fibular graft bridged vascular pedicle by vein transplantation for infective long bone defect recon-struction / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the surgical method and curative effect of free vascularized fibular graft bridged vascu?lar pedicle by vein transplantation for infective long bone defect with or without soft tissue defect reconstruction. Methods From June 2008 to January 2014, 17 patients with infective long bone defect were treated, 11 male and 6 female, 1.5 to 55 years old and averaged 31.3 years. 8 cases in femur, 5 cases in tibia, 3 cases in humerus and 1 case in radius. Bone defect were 4 to 19 cm in length with an average of 9.4 cm. 8 cases with soft tissue defect, from 5.0 cm×3.0 cm to 17.0 cm×5.5 cm. Required adequate surgi?cal debridement, and vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) was used. Free vascularized fibular (skin) flap was designed and harvested . Artery and veins close to the health site were dissected, and bridged vascular pedicle of free vascularized fibular flap by autolo?gous vein transplantation with end to end anastomosis. The length free vascularized fibular graft was from 5 to 18 cm, with an aver?age of 9.6 cm. The free fibula flap ranged from 6.5 cm×4.0 cm to 18.0 cm×6.0 cm. Results All the 17 cases of fibular flap sur?vived, no vascular crisis happened. Post?operative wound primary healed in 11 cases, delayed 1 to 2 weeks to heal in 6 cases. Cal?lus was seen in the 6 to 8 weeks later. 15 cases were followed from 9 months to 6 years (averaged 30 months) while 2 cases were lost to follow?up. Bone defect primary healed in 13 cases, and the fibula graft unhealed in 2 cases, but healed again after a second operation. Fibula stress fracture occurred in one case at 7 months after grafting procedures and bone union was achieved 4 months after reapplying an external fixator. Infected bone defect healing time ranged from 4.2 to 9.8 months, averaged 5.9 months. Accord?ing to the Enneking score, 11 cases were excellent, good in 3 cases, one in fair. Excellent and Good rate was 93.3%. Conclusion Free vascularized fibular (skin) graft with vein bridged vascular pedicle can not only effectively repair infected bone and soft tissue defect, but also improve local blood supply and control infection, shorten the course of treatment, which is an effective treatment of infective long bone defects with or without soft tissue defects.