Tibial lengthening for massive distal femoral bone loss

Abstract

A man in his 30s was involved in a road traffic accident (RTA) and sustained a grade-IIIA distal femur fracture with acute loss of distal two-third of the femur. Initially, damage control surgery was done by an external fixator application. Later, staged limb reconstruction surgery was undertaken as a definitive procedure that involved bifocal distraction osteogenesis involving the proximal tibia and femur along with docking of the corticotomised femoral fragment onto the tibial plateau to achieve knee arthrodesis. The tibial and femoral regenerate together measured 25.8 cm at the end of distraction phase leaving behind a limb length discrepancy of 5 cm. Acute traumatic large bone loss is a rare presentation and is beset with unique management challenges. Limb reconstruction surgery (LRS) with LRS system provides flexibility to tackle individual case-based scenarios and helps achieve limb length, maintain alignment and restore function.

Keywords: Orthopaedics; Trauma.