Objective To explore the effectiveness of staged treatment of open Pilon fracture combined with soft tissue defect. Methods Between June 2007 and December 2012, 18 cases of open Pilon fracture combined with soft tissue defect were treated. There were 14 males and 4 females with an average age of 35 years (range, 19-55 years). The causes of injury included falling from height in 12 cases, traffic accident in 4 cases, and crushing by machine in 2 cases. According to AO classification, 1 case was classified as type B2 fracture, 3 cases as type B3 fracture, 5 cases as type C1 fracture, 5 cases as type C2 fracture, and 4 cases as type C3 fracture. Sixteen cases accompanied by fibular fracture (14 cases of simple fibular fracture and 2 cases of communicated fibular fracture). According to Gustilo classification, the soft tissue injuries were all type IIIB. In first stage, debridement and vaccum sealing drainage combined with external fixation were performed; open reduction and internal fixation of simple fibular fracture were used. In second stage, open reduction and internal fixation of Pilon fracture and communicated fibular fracture were performed, and the flaps of 6 cm × 5 cm to 18 cm × 14 cm were applied to repair soft tissue defect at the same time. The donor site was repaired by skin graft. Results Partial necrosis occurred in 2 flaps, the other 16 flaps survived completely. The incisions of donor sites healed by first intention, the skin graft survived completely. The average follow-up interval was 12 months (range, 6-24 months). The X-ray films showed that the bone healing time ranged from 5 to 8 months (mean, 6 months). No internal fixation failure was found. At last follow-up, the average range of motion of the ankle joint was 37° (range, 26-57°). According to the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scale, the average score was 80.2 (range, 72-86). Traumatic arthritis occurred in 2 cases (11%). Conclusion The staged treatment has the advantages of accurate evaluation of soft tissue injury, shortened cure time, good reduction of the articular surface, and reduced incidence of infection, so it is an optimal method to treat open Pilon fracture combined with soft tissue defect.
Objective To observe the effectiveness of traumatic dislocation of the knee joint combined with multi ple ligament injuries treated by stages. Methods Between June 2005 and November 2008, 13 cases of traumatic dislocation of the knee joint combined with multi ple ligament injuries were treated by stages, including 9 males and 4 females with an average age of 30.7 years (range, 18-54 years). The dislocations were left knee in 3 cases and right knee in 10 cases. The causes of injury were sports injury in 8 cases, traffic accident injury in 2 cases, fall ing from height injury in 2 cases, and sprain injury in 1 case. The average time from injury to hospitalization was 9 hours (range, 6 hours to 2 days ). Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), and medial collateral ligament (MCL) were involved in 8 cases; ACL, PCL, and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) in 3 cases; and ACL, PCL, MCL, and LCL in 2 cases. The valgus stress testing results of 10 knees were ++ to +++; the varus stress testing results of 5 knees were ++ to +++; all knees showed positive in the anterior or the posterior drawer test and ++ to +++ in Lachman test. The nerve, vessel, MCL, LCL, PCL, meniscus were repaired in the first operation. The functional exercise of knee joint was done after fixation for 3-4 weeks. During the second operation, the ACL was reconstrcted under arthroscopy after the range of motion (ROM) of knee joint was good with anterior instabil ity of knee within 4-6 months. Results All wounds healed by first intention after two operations; no compl ications of infection and compartment syndrome occurred. All cases were followed up 12-60 months with an average of 36 months. Joint effusion of knee occurred in 2 cases at 4 weeks after the first operation and was cured after removal of fluid. At 3 months after the second operation, the results of valgus stress testing and Lachman test were ++ in 1 case, respectively; the results of valgus stress testing, varus stress testing, and Lachman test were + in 1 case, respectively; and others showed negative results. After 12 months of the second operation, the mean flexion of the knee was 123.4° (range, 100-135°), and the mean extension of the knee was 2.3° (range, 0-4°). According to Lysholm evaluation system, 9patients got excellent results, 2 good, and 2 fair; the excellent and good rate was 84.6%. Conclusion It is an effective method in the treatment of traumatic dislocation of the knee joint combined with multi ple ligament injuries by stages.
ObjectiveTo explore the clinical application and effectiveness of antibiotic-loaded cement spacer combined with free fibular graft in the staged treatment of infectious long bone defect in the lower extremity. MethodsA retrospective analysis was made on the clinical data from 12 patients with infectious long bone defect in the lower extremity between June 2010 and June 2012. Of the 12 cases, there were 9 males and 3 females with an average age of 33 years (range, 19-46 years), including 3 cases of femoral shaft bone defect, 7 cases of tibial shaft bone defect, and 2 cases of metatarsal bone defect. The causes were traffic accident injury in 7 cases, crashing injury in 3 cases, and machine extrusion injury in 2 cases. The length of bone defect ranged from 6 to 14 cm (mean, 8 cm). The soft tissue defect area ranged from 5.0 cm×3.0 cm to 8.0 cm×4.0 cm companied with tibial shaft and metatarsal bone defect in 9 cases. The sinus formed in 3 femoral shaft bone defects. The time between injury and operation was 1-4 months (mean, 2 months). At first stage, antibiotic-loaded cement spacer was placed in the bone defect after debridement and the flaps were used to repair soft tissue defect in 9 cases; at second stage (6 weeks after the first stage), defect was repaired with free fibular graft (7-22 cm in length, 14 cm on average) after antibiotic-loaded cement spacer removal. The area of the cutaneous fibular flap ranged from 6.0 cm×4.0 cm to 10.0 cm×5.0 cm in 10 cases. ResultsAll wounds healed by first intention, and the healing time was 12-18 days, 14 days on average. Twelve cases were followed up 12-36 months (mean, 17 months). Bone healing time ranged from 4 to 6 months (5.5 months on average). The cutaneous fibular flap had good appearance. The function at donor site was satisfactory; no dysfunction of the ankle joint or tibial stress fracture occurred after operation. The mean Enneking score was 25 (range, 20-28) at last follow-up. ConclusionInfection can be well controlled with the antibiotic-loaded cement spacer during first stage operation, and free fibular graft can increase the bone defect healing rate at second stage. Staged treatment is an optimal choice to treat infectious long bone defect in the lower extremity.