International Abstracts

In this article the authors describe the limb salvage procedure they followed for a patient who suffered extensive soft tissue and femoral bone necrosis following a high-voltage electrical burn injury. The patient suffered burns to the right thigh and knee, which resulted in large areas of muscle necrosis and a long segment of distal femur exposure. Complete debridement of the area resulted in a 20 × 35 cm soft tissue defect and an 18-cm long distal femoral bone defect. The wound was repaired with latissimus dorsi muscle transplantation and bone reconstruction using the sequential Ilizarov osteogenesis method. The patient retained the injured limb, and functional recovery of the leg was satisfactory. The authors conclude that the combination of flap transplantation and the Ilizarov osteogenesis method is a good option for the treatment of large soft tissue and huge segmental bone defects