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Surgical Techniques:
Levent Eralp, Mehmet Kocaoglu, and Haroon Rashid
Reconstruction of Segmental Bone Defects Due to Chronic Osteomyelitis with Use of an External Fixator and an Intramedullary Nail. Surgical Technique
J Bone Joint Surg Am 2007; 89: 183-195 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]
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[Read Letter to the Editor] Surgical treatment of chronic osteomyelitis of long bones - our experience
Cedomir S Vucetic, Zoran Vukasinovic, Borislav Dulic, Ivan Dimitrijevic, and Dusko Spasovski   (5 December 2007)

Surgical treatment of chronic osteomyelitis of long bones - our experience 5 December 2007
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Cedomir S Vucetic,
Head of Dept of Septic Bone and Joint Surgery
Institute of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.,
Zoran Vukasinovic, Borislav Dulic, Ivan Dimitrijevic, and Dusko Spasovski

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Re: Surgical treatment of chronic osteomyelitis of long bones - our experience

cedomir.vucetic{at}gmail.com Cedomir S Vucetic, et al.

To The Editor:

We read this paper(1) with great interest and would like to make some comments about our experience in treating chronic osteomyelitis of long bones with the involvement of one bone segment.

Our experience has been based on resection of the involved bony part, insertion of through drainage, and placement of Ilizarov external fixation including the corticotomy. It has been most commonly performed as a one stage procedure, and only rarely in two stages. During bone transport, there is the possibility of shaft loss and insufficient contact area of the bone surfaces. We have found that larger contact surface and preservation of the shaft alignment may be achieved by shaping the proximal and distal ends into a "V" configuration. Upon reduction, the complementary surfaces have a large contact area and are less likely to sustain lateral translation.

We have used this method successfully at our institute for 15 years and to date, there has been no need for spongioplasty.

The authors did not receive any outside funding or grants in support of their research for or preparation of this work. Neither they nor a member of their immediate families received payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, division, center, clinical practice, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors, or a member of their immediate families, are affiliated or associated.

Reference:

1. Eralp L, Kocaoglu M, Rashid H. Reconstruction of segmental bone defects due to chronic osteomyelitis with use of an external fixator and an intramedullary nail. J bone Joint surg Am. 2007;89/2_suppl_2/183.