Ilizarov technique used in treatment of bone and soft tissue defects of the tibia / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To report our clinical outcomes of treating tibial defects combined with soft tissue defects using Ilizarov technique.Methods From May 2010 to February 2015,52 patients with combined bone and soft tissue defects of the tibia were treated at our department.They were 41 males and 11 females,aged from 19 to 65 years (average,37.7 years).By Gustilo classification,49 cases were type ⅢB and 3 type ⅢC.The areas of soft tissue defect ranged from 7 cm ×3 cm to 28 cm × 15 cm,and the tibial defects ranged from 5 cm to 15 cm in length (average,12.6 cm).The schemes of Ilizarov technique depended on the location and size of the tibial defects.Open wound dressing combined with bone transport was adopted in 21 cases,limb shortening followed by bone lengthening with compression at the fracture ends in 12 cases,and tissue flap transplantation combined with bone transport or lengthening in 19 cases.Results The follow-up time of the 52 patients ranged from 13 to 61 months (average,27.1 months).The distance of bone transport or lengthening ranged from 5.0 cm to 13.6 cm (average,10.8 cm);the bone transport speed averaged 0.81 mm/day.The tibiae united in all the 52 patients;the time for external fixation ranged from 13 to 21 months (average,15.3 months);the external fixation index was 2.3 months/cm.According to the Paley functional criteria,23 cases were excellent,19 good,9 fair,and one poor,yielding an excellent to good rate of 80.7％.Conclusion According to the location and size of the bone and soft tissue defects of the tibia,the 3 schemes of Ilizarov technique can be rationally chosen to obtain fine clinical outcomes.