Published online Jun 6, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i11.2181
Peer-review started: March 14, 2020
First decision: April 14, 2020
Revised: April 19, 2020
Accepted: May 13, 2020
Article in press: May 13, 2020
Published online: June 6, 2020
Processing time: 86 Days and 1.2 Hours
Bone transport and distraction osteogenesis has been widely used to treat bone defects after traumatic surgery; however, skin and soft tissue incarceration is high.
The authors inserted a tissue expander in the defect area between the tibial ends to prevent possible skin and soft tissue incarceration during bone transport and distraction osteogenesis.
In this study, the authors aimed to investigate the efficacy of inserting a tissue expander to prevent soft tissue incarceration.
Twelve patients underwent implantation of a tissue expander in the subcutaneous layer in the vicinity of a tibial defect to maintain the soft tissue in position.
The expanders remained intact in the subcutaneous layer of the bone defect area during the course of transport distraction osteogenesis in all 12 patients. During the whole process, there was no incarceration of skin and soft tissue in the bone defect area. Complications occurred in one patient, who experienced poor wound healing.
The authors’ primary success with this method indicates that it may be a valuable tool in the management of incarcerated soft tissue. The pre-filled expander technique can effectively avoid incarceration.
After referring to domestic and foreign literature, the method reported in this study is actually the first treatment method of this type that offers advantages such as simple operation procedure and strong practicability, and it is worth performing this method in clinical practice in the future.