Traumatology and Orthopedics of Russia

In 1998, the first meeting of members of the Association for the Study and Application of the Methods of Ilizarov (ASAMI) was held in the USA to introduce and popularize the methods developed in Kurgan by Professor G. Ilizarov and his staff. During 2005-2016, other communities worked in parallel with ASAMI, which went beyond the use of only the Ilizarov apparatus. Since 2017, the joint meetings have been called “Combined congress of the ASAMI-BR and ILLRS societies”. This actually became the basis for the definition of “Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction Surgery (LLRS)” as a subspecialty of orthopedic surgery that treats patients with nonunions, congenital and acquired long bone, large joints deformities of the upper and lower extremities. LLRS is based on the Ilizarov method and discovery (“Ilizarov effect”) with the rational use of external and internal fixation, osteotomy and soft tissue procedures. It takes at least three years for an orthopedic surgeon to become a specialist in the field of LLRS, and the education must be staged. A significant role in this is played by the ASAMI-BR & ILLRS congresses, ExFix & LLRS courses held in many countries, ExFix modules integrated into courses provided as part of the education of AO Trauma, as well as extensive world literature.

Background. The severity of gunshot wounds to the extremities is due to the formation of bone and soft tissue defects. The relevance of this publication is determined by the need to introduce simple and effective methods into the practice of providing assistance to the wounded. The technique under consideration fully satisfies these requirements.

The aims of the study: 1) to optimize the lower leg shortening technique and analyze the short-term results of its application in treatment of the wounded with gunshot tibial fractures; 2) to assess the indications for surgical restoration of the lower leg length after its shortening.

Methods. The study enrolled 45 wounded patients with gunshot fractures of the lower leg bones. Reconstructive interventions were performed on 51 segments. In the absence of purulent-necrotic lesions of the fragments ends, closed reduction and convergence to tight contact without resection were performed (13 cases, group I). In the case of necrosis of the fragments ends, resection and convergence were performed with significant shortening of the segment (38 cases, group II).

Results. The amount of shortening accounted for 4 cm [3; 6] in group I and 8 cm [7; 10] in group II (p<0.001). Due to the convergence of the fragments, the reduction of the soft tissue defect was 25 cm² [11; 41] and 38 cm² [20; 81] in group I and II respectively. In 2 (15.4%) patients in group I and 4 (10.5%) patients in group II no fusion occurred. In the remaining cases the fusion occurred, the consolidation period was 50 [45; 59] weeks in group I and 36.5 [29; 43] weeks in group II (p<0.001).

Conclusions. Depending on the condition of fragments ends, there are two possible options of the shortening technique: without resection and with resection of the fragments ends. Shortening without resection is possible in the absence of signs of fragment necrosis. The disadvantage is the risk of delayed fusion, the advantage is the ability to avoid traumatic intervention in the form of resection of the fragments ends. In case of the fragments ends necrosis, their transverse resection and convergence with the elimination of diastasis between them is necessary. The advantage of this shortening technique is the optimization of conditions and reduction of fusion time, the disadvantage is the formation of significant bone defects. The need for lengthening of the shortened segment does not always arise. Lengthening as a second stage after conducting rehabilitation is considered as an optimal choice.

Background. Congenital radial club hand is characterized by the underdevelopment of all forearm structures. Ulnar bone shortening ranges from 24.7% to 50.0% compared to the intact limb.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the outcomes of ulnar lengthening by distraction osteogenesis in patients with congenital radial club hand type IV who underwent osteotomy with the formation of a bone-periosteal-muscle flap, and to compare these results with the treatment outcomes of the patients who had standard (oblique) ulnar osteotomy.

Methods. The main group consisted of 20 patients who underwent osteotomy with the formation of a bone-periosteal-muscle flap during ulnar lengthening between 2019 and 2022. The control group included 19 patients (22 forearms) who underwent oblique ulnar osteotomy between 1998 and 2018. The following indicators were evaluated: length of the regenerate, distraction time, correction period, fixation index, osteosynthesis index, and complications.

Results. A lengthening of 4.1 cm was achieved (30.7% of the initial ulnar bone length). The correction of angular deformity was 71.4%. Greater correction was achieved with osteotomy in the proximal ulna. In the subgroup with proximal segment osteotomy, the distraction and osteosynthesis indices were 25.6 and 25.7 days/cm, respectively. In the mid-third osteotomy group, these indices were 42.3 and 42.6 days/cm, respectively. Complications were limited to inflammatory phenomena in 30% of cases. All patients in the main group exhibited successful regenerate formation. Thus, the bone fragment with a periosteal-muscle pedicle serves as an additional source of osteogenesis during distraction.

Conclusions. This study demonstrates the appropriateness of osteotomy with the formation of a bone-periosteal-muscle flap in children with congenital radial club hand. This technique allows for greater deformity correction, a shortened regenerate formation period, and a reduction in complications.

Background. Patients’ preoperative expectations are one of the most significant factors affecting the satisfaction rates after organ-preserving surgeries performed in the hip area. To date, there are no validated Russian-language methods to assess the expectations from hip preservation surgeries.

The aim of the study is — to carry out cross-cultural adaptation of the Hip preservation surgery expectations survey, as well as to assess the validity of its Russian version.

Methods. In order to preserve validity of the survey, we carried out its cross-cultural adaptation including forward translation, back translation, and pilot testing (pretesting). Validity of the final Russian-language version was assessed by interviewing 40 patients, which underwent hip joint arthroscopy due to femoroacetabular impingement.

Results. Cronbach’s α has accounted for 0.945, indicating a high level of internal consistency. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) has amounted to 0.82 (95% CI: 0.56-0.93), which corresponds to good correlation and demonstrates retest reliability. The “ceiling” and “floor” effects have not been detected.

Conclusions. The Russian version of the Hip preservation surgery expectations survey is a useful and simple tool to assess preoperative expectations of patients with diseases of the hip joint. The survey makes it possible to structure and document the expectations and may be used in clinical practice and scientific studies.

Background. The technique of multiapical deformities correction with several orthopedic hexapods (one for each apex of deformity) is accepted as a standard one. However, usage of two or more hexapods on one segment is uncomfortable for the patient. Besides, software calculation for each of them is difficult and laborious for an orthopedic surgeon. Application of only one orthopedic hexapod with one software calculation is the advantage of the spring technique (ST) of multiapical deformities correction. However, its application is hindered by the fact that the corrective capabilities of this technique have not been studied yet.

The aim of the study was to identify by the bench test the corrective capabilities of the spring technique and compare them with the capabilities of the standard one.

Methods. The bench test was performed using plastic models of the femur. One-ring modules were used to fix each of the bone fragments. Foam rubber discs were used to imitate soft tissues. The mobile ring was moved relative to the base one in translation, angulation, distraction and rotation. The movement was stopped if one of the struts reached its minimum or maximum length, as well as if one of them touched a frame, transosseous elements or “soft tissues”. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for statistical analysis.

Results. When using all the six struts equipped with standard threaded rods, the corrective capabilities of the spring technique are 58-97% (on average 72%) lower than of the standard one. When replacing 2-6 (depending on the type of motion) threaded rods with longer ones, the capabilities of ST increases by 36-466% (on average 257%). This provides better result for ST in translation (in three directions), varus and recurvation angulation.

Conclusions. Corrective capabilities of the spring technique in 5 out of 11 types of motions are better than the capabilities of the standard technic if struts of the orthopedic hexapod are equipped with threaded rods of greater length.

Background. The problem of treating wounded patients with defects of soft tissues and bones of the extremities continues to be relevant. One of the ways to close soft tissue defects, especially in case of bone tissue loss, after open fractures of the extremities is acute shortening and creation of artificial angular deformity of the segment.

The aim of the study — to demonstrate the possibilities of acute shortening and angulation of the segment as a technique to replace soft tissue and bone defects in treatment of a patient with a gunshot wound to the lower leg.

Case description. A 30-year-old wounded man was admitted to the clinic with an extensive defect in soft tissues and bones of the lower leg in the middle third. To reduce the wound size, acute shortening and angulation of the lower leg was performed. The intentional angular deformation was 24º, shortening — up to 8 cm. The residual soft tissue wound defect was closed with local tissues and split skin autograft. The tibia was fixed by the Ilizarov hinge-distraction apparatus with following gradual correction of the angular deformity. After that, one performed osteotomy of the tibia in order to eliminate shortening with the Ilizarov method (the distraction rate of 1 mm per day). After restoring the length of the lower leg, in order to replace the defect along the anterior surface of the tibia, a marginal “flake” was formed from a displaced fragment. At a follow-up examination, in 18 months after the injury the patient walks with full weight bearing on the injured limb without any additional means of support, continues to perform military service duties in accordance with his position.

Conclusions. The presented clinical case demonstrates that acute shortening of a limb segment with creation of artificial angular deformity is an effective method for temporary closure of a gunshot defect of soft tissues. The technique allowed closing critical soft tissue defect of the lower leg and restoring the anatomy (length) of the segment. Consequently, one was able to achieve satisfactory treatment results and restore the functions of an injured limb. Besides, acute temporary shortening technique eliminated the need to perform technically sophisticated and lengthy microsurgical reconstructions, which are associated with a flap replacement for closure of soft tissue defects in a shotgun fracture area.

Background. The Ilizarov method is a recognized technique for treating severe skeletal injuries, allowing for a comprehensive restoration of both bone and soft tissue components. Despite the fact that bone lengthening and transport are widely known techniques, distraction of a longitudinally split fragment is still used extremely rarely.

The aim of the study is to describe a series of clinical cases involving patients operated on using this technique.

Methods. We present a series of observations of five patients who underwent distraction of a longitudinally split fragment using the Ilizarov method between January 2006 and December 2022. Clinical information was obtained from case histories, all surgical interventions were documented. Postoperative examination was performed using radiography.

Results. A case series demonstrates the successful application of this technique for reconstruction of partial bone defects resulting from trauma or osteomyelitis. The study included five patients (4 men and 1 woman) who underwent surgery 4.8-34.0 months after trauma for a partial defect of the proximal tibia ranging from 4 to 8 cm in length. Distraction was performed in different directions along the sagittal and longitudinal axes. The time of external fixation ranged from 3.5 to 4.8 months, the external fixation index ranged from 0.49 to 1.22. The ASAMI (Association for the Study and Application of the Methods of Ilizarov) functional score at the follow-up examination was excellent in all five patients. The ASAMI bone tissue assessment showed excellent results in all patients, except for one patient with residual equinus (good result). No other complications were reported.

Conclusions. The Ilizarov method provides a minimally invasive and comprehensive approach to the elimination of partial bone defects, affecting simultaneously the skeletal and soft tissue components. Due to the longitudinal splitting during fragment transport and distraction osteogenesis, this method promotes bone and tissue regeneration and helps to avoid a volumetric bone defect and more complex segmental bone transport. Moreover, the role of transverse transport of the tibial cortex increases in the treatment of peripheral arterial diseases.

Transcutaneous osseointegration for amputees (TOFA), an alternative approach to limb-loss rehabilitation, offers an enhanced quality of life and mobility, overcoming some challenges associated with amputation. This review presents evolution, surgical techniques, patient selection principles, and outcomes associated with TOFA. Notable points include the recognition that press-fit osseointegration techniques and implants achieve the quality of life and mobility improvements with a single surgical episode. Infection remains the most common adverse event, but uncommonly requires additional surgery, and rarely requires implant removal. Press-fit osseointegration has proven suitable for rehabilitating a broad range of patients with pelvic, transfemoral, or transtibial amputation performed to manage trauma, cancer, infection, chronic pain, and deformity. This technigue is safe for patients with vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, short residual bones, and osteoporotic residual bones. This article serves as a central resource for understanding the principles and techniques of osseointegration.

Background. Torsional deformities of the long bones in children are usually treated using correcting detorsional osteotomies with different types of osteosynthesis. However, this method is highly traumatic and can cause severe complications. Guided growth is the gold standard for frontal and sagittal planes deformities treatment in growing children. The technique is effective, minimally invasive, enables early weight-bearing and has lower complication rate. Recently, application of guided growth technique has been actively studied for horizontal plane deformities correction as well.

The aim of the review — based on a scientific literature analysis, to present possibilities of using guided growth technique for correcting torsional deformities of the long bones, as well as to define the ways of its improvement for further clinical application.

Methods. The search was performed in PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar and eLIBRARY databases. For review, we included 8 articles (five animal experimental studies and three clinical studies), which were published from 2013 to 2023.

Results. Analyzed studies demonstrated the possibility of applying detorsional guided growth for horizontal plane deformities correction in growing children. Three main surgical techniques were suggested. Correction efficiency mainly depends on the interplate angle, proper plate positioning and longitudinal growth potential. Limitations of these studies were: a small group number; absence of preoperative CT scans in animal studies; torsional profile measurement using computed tomography was performed only in one of three clinical studies. There was also no preoperative planning of deformity correction/creation amount, so it was not possible to evaluate the accuracy of the suggested methods. The main complications were secondary deformities and limb length discrepancy.

Conclusions. Further clinical application of detorsional guided growth in children may be possible after solving the problem of secondary deformities and shortening and providing preoperative planning of the deformity correction amount.