Comparison of acute shortening-lengthening and antibiotic calcium sulfate-loaded bone transport for the treatment of segmental tibial defects after trauma / 国际外科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To compare the clinical effects of acute shortening-lengthening technique with antibiotic calcium sulfate-loaded bone transport technique for the treatment of segmental tibial defects after trauma.Methods:The clinical data of 58 patients with large tibial defects treated by Ilizarov technique in Xi′an Honghui Hospital Affiliated to Xi′an Jiaotong University from May 2014 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty patients were treated by acute shortening-lengthening (group A), and they were divided into those who were successful in one-time shortening during operation (group A1) and those who needed gradual shortening after operation (group A2) according to different shortening conditions. And 28 patients by antibiotic calcium sulfate-loaded bone transport (group B). The external fixation time (EFT) and external fixation index (EFI) of the two groups were compared. Bone defect healing and limb functions were evaluated according to the Association for the Study and Application of the Method of Ilizarov (ASAMI) criteria. Complications were compared by Paley classification. The measurement data of normal distribution were expressed as ± s, and t-test was used for comparison between groups; the count data were expressed as n(%), and the chi-square test, Fisher exact probability method or Mann-Whitney U test were used for comparison between groups. Results:Patients were followed for(27.5±5.1)months. There was no significant difference in EFT, EFI, bone defect healing and limb functions between the two groups( P>0.05). The incidence of Grade-Ⅱ[41.2% (7/17)], Grade-Ⅲ [47.1% (8/17)] pin-tract infection in group A1 and Grade-Ⅱ[46.2% (6/13)], Grade-Ⅲ pin-tract [53.8% (7/13)] in group A2 was significantly higher than those in group B[14.3% (4/28)], [17.9% (5/28)] ( P<0.05). The number of complications per capita in group A1 [(1.4±0.3) times/case] and in group A2 [(1.5±0.3) times/case]was significantly higher than that in group B [(1.1±0.5) times/case]. Conclusions:Patients can be cured successfully by both acute shortening-lengthening and bone transport techniques. Compared with acute shortening-lengthening group, the complication incidence in antibiotic calcium sulfate-loaded bone transport group was lower, especially, the infection-related complications. Therefore, antibiotic calcium sulfate-loaded bone transport technique has a greater application prospect in patients with large segmental bone defects caused by infection or osteomyelitis.