Reconstruction of Septic Tibial Bone Defects With the Masquelet Technique and External Ring Fixation—A Low Healing Rate and High Complication and Revision Rates

To evaluate the results of a series of septic tibial bone defects treated with the Masquelet technique and external ring fixation as a standardized treatment procedure.Retrospective study.Level one trauma center.All patients 18 years of age or older with septic diaphyseal bone defects of the tibia who underwent induced membrane treatment with ring fixation at our institution between June 1, 2012, and November 31, 2017.Staged management as described by Masquelet using an external ring fixator for definitive fixation.Bony healing at the last follow-up and the time to healing in months. Functional results were assessed according to the scoring system of the Association for the Study and Application of Methods of Ilizarov. The secondary outcome measures were treatment failure and complications.Thirty-one patients were treated, with a mean follow-up period of 33 months (range, 13-69 months). Overall, among 14 patients assessed as having achieved bone healing, an average of 3.7 surgical revisions were required. The mean healing time was 15.5 months (range, 6-49 months). According to the Association for the Study and Application of Methods of Ilizarov criteria, 7 patients were rated as "excellent" and 6 patients were rated as "good"; one patient showed "poor" functional results. A total of 17 cases of treatment failure and 36 complications were detected.The combination of the Masquelet technique and external fixation yielded a low healing rate and was associated with a significant number of cases of treatment failure.Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.