Bone Transport for Treatment of Traumatic Composite Tibial Bone and Soft Tissue Defects: Any Specific Needs besides the Ilizarov Technique?

Table 1

Incidence and management of postoperative complications.

Complication	Number of cases (n = 80)	Management	Outcome
Flap crisis	3	Vascular exploration	Slight flap necrosis was healed after debridement, grafting, or dressing change
Recurrence of deep infection	2	Removal of infected bone	Improvement
Nonunion of bone defect	14	Autologous or allogeneic bone transplantation	Healing
Refracture	4	External fixation for another 6 months	Bone union
Severe nail tunnel reaction or mechanical axis deviation	19	Nail/needle replacement, mechanical axis adjustment	Improvement
Joint stiffness (knee joint stiffness, foot drop, claw toe)	13	Decompression surgery, foot ring	Improvement
Limb shortening (>3 cm)	2	None	None
Soft tissue folding affecting bone transport contact	5	Soft tissue repair	Improvement
Flap swelling	8	Flap repair	Improvement
Poor wound healing	10	Dressing change	Improvement

Note: the number of complications refers to the number of patients presenting with complications. One patient may successively or simultaneously have different complications, and one or more may be simultaneously treated during the surgical treatment. The functional score is obtained after these complications are treated.