Research progress in the treatment of refractory lower limb ulcers by tibia transverse transport / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

The treatment of lower extremity chronic refractory ulcers requires a long time but with poor prognosis. Thus, many patients end up with amputations. The treatment of lower extremity chronic and recalcitrant ulcers and limb salvage has been a challenge worldwide. The Ilizarov technique based on the law of "tension-stress" brings a new hope in treating lower limb chronic and recalcitrant ulcers. The Ilizarov technique and distraction osteogenesis not only induce bone formation but also lead to angiogenesis and improved microcirculation. The Ilizarov technique consists of longitudinal distraction of long bone and tibia trans-verse transport (TTT) (proximal tibial corticotomy followed by transverse distraction). These two techniques have their own advantages and disadvantages with different indications in clinical application. Longitudinal distraction of long bone is mainly used for bone formation, such as large bone defects, osteonecrosis or bone infection (with or without soft tissue loss or ulcers). Because of only a partial osteotomy in TTT, the trauma is minor and their effects on limb instability are limited. Moreover, the procedure is simple with only a few minor complications. Thus, it is ideal in treating lower limb ischemic ulcers, such as diabetic foot ulcers, thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger's disease), ulcers caused by atherosclerotic occlusion, arterial or venous ulcers, and trauma wounds. Several studies reported that TTT achieved high healing and limb salvage rates in treating severe diabetic foot ulcer. However, TTT could achieve lower recurrent rate. Thus, it is the most successful application in treatment of chronic ulcers. TTT also improves healing and limb salvage in treatment of thromboangiitis obliterans. However, the overall effects are limited than those in treating diabetic foot ulcer. For lower limb atherosclerosis occlusion, TTT induces regeneration of microvessles and consequently leads to ulcer healing. The effects are better than other conventional treatments. A combination therapy with vascularization is emphasized to attain the optimal long-term effects. The effects of TTT on lower limb recalcitrant ulcers still need to be validated in randomized control trial with larger sample size. Further, the mechanism of treatment needs to be explored by pilot studies which could show that this may be related to the formation of pro-angiogenetic factors and a rebalance of the inflammatory microenvironment during TTT.