Trauma Rounds Case Reports from the Mass General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital A Quarterly Case Study Volume 3, Summer 2012

George Dyer, MD

Trevor Owen, MD

In late October 2011, 22 rebels injured during the Libyan Civil War were admitted to Spauld-ing Hospital in Salem, MA.

Our Trauma team provided care to six patients with complex nonunions, malunions, and nerve injuries. This opportunity allowed us to apply techniques we use for more routine care to severe wartime injuries and their sequelae. It showed us how the careful practice of surgical principles can be effective, even when treating devastating injuries.One of the patients we treated had sustained multiple gunshot wounds from a battle three months prior to his admission to Spaulding. He presented with infected nonunions of his left distal femur and right diaphyseal tibia, as well as a complete left sciatic nerve palsy. We treated both of his infected nonun-ions with the Masquelet or “induced membrane” technique. BackgroundThe French surgeon Alain-Charles Masquelet developed the Masquelet technique for the treatment of large bone defects in the 1980’s. Prior to the development of Masquelet’s technique the most common procedures for diaphyseal bone defects greater than six centimeters were bone transport using the Iliza-rov method and vascularized bone transfer.1 Bone grafting of large segmental defects leads to graft resorption and an unac-ceptably high rate of failure. Masquelet’s method (described below) involves staged reconstruction with a cement spacer to create an induced membrane followed by cancellous autografting of the cavity created after spacer removal. One of the major advantages of this technique is that the reconstruction time is independent of the length of the defect. The minimum treat-ment time to fix a 6 cm defect using the Ilizarov method is nearly 7 months in an external fixator (unless modified tech-niques are utilized), whereas with the Masquelet technique pa-tients with defects of this size and larger have treatment times of 4-6 months. Case reports describe use of the Masquelet tech-nique to treat defects caused by tumor, trauma, and infection.

Stage One: Implanting the Spacer The first stage includes radical debridement, placement of an antibiotic spacer, and soft tissue coverage. During debridement all necrotic or infected bone is removed and the ends of remain-ing segments burred back to bleeding edges. A polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) cement spacer is fashioned to completely fill the segmental defect and overlap the ends of the bone slightly to facilitate membrane elevation at the second stage of the procedure. The bone should be stabilized by either internal or external fixation prior to implantation of the spacer.The cement spacer serves two purposes: (a) to create and pre-serve a cavity which can later be filled with cancellous auto-graft; and (b) to induce a foreign body reaction membrane around the spacer. In several animal and human studies, this membrane has been found to be highly vascular and secrete growth factors (i.e. VEGF, TGF-ß1, and BMP-2) with peak con-centrations around the fourth week.Stage Two: Cancellous AutograftingSix to eight weeks after the initial procedure the patient is brought back to the operating room. The induced membrane is meticulously elevated from around the cement spacer and the spacer removed with osteotomes. Cancellous autograft from the iliac crest is used to fill the cavity. The membrane is closed as a separate layer, acting as a containment unit around the

Trauma Rounds, Volume 3, Summer 2012 1

P A R T N E R S O R T H O P A E D I C

Treating Injuries from the War Zone

Figure 1: Initial films showing nonunion of distal femur (left), after debridement with antibiotic cement spacer and beads in place (center), final radiographs showing consolidation of nonunion site (right).

graft. Alternate forms of bone graft, such as cortico-cancellous graft obtained using the reamer-irrigator-aspirator, can be util-ized or graft extenders can be used to expand the volume of the autograft in the event the void is very large. Once the mem-brane is closed, internal fixation is used to stabilize the bone.Post-operative protocols involve an initial period of non- weight-bearing for 3-4 months followed by progressive weight bearing. In Masquelet’s initial cases, which included defect re-constructions as large as 25 cm, the average time until normal walking was 8.5 months.Case HistoryWe utilized the Masquelet technique in the treatment of our patient’s two infected nonunions. He underwent debridement until his wounds were considered “clean” with no growth from intraoperative cultures. His tibia was stabilized with a tempo-rary antibiotic-impregnated PMMA intramedullary rod molded from a large chest tube with an additional cement spacer in the bony defect. After 4 weeks the temporary rod and spacer were removed and replaced with an interlocked antibiotic cement-coated titanium rod with iliac crest bone grafting within the induced membrane. Similarly, his femur was treated with pres-ervation of existing hardware with placement of an antibiotic coated spacer in the metadyaphseal defect and antibiotic beads

along the lateral aspect of the plate. Eight weeks later the spacer and hardware were removed, the cavity filled with iliac crest autograft expanded with cancellous allograft and an allo-graft fibula for added stability. Revision locked fixation pro-vided definitive stability.We permitted immediate weight bearing on his tibia, but made him non-weight-bearing on his femur for 4 months. The patient is currently 8 months out from his first surgery and is able to bear weight on both legs with the assistance of a walker with minimal pain. There are no signs of recurrent infection. He recently underwent Achilles tendon lengthening and posterior capsule release because of an equinus contracture secondary to his sciatic palsy on his left leg. The patient is currently recover-ing from this surgery and making plans to return to Libya.It is not often we have the opportunity to treat this type of se-vere problem with delays to treatment in a modern healthcare setting. The Masquelet technique allowed reconstruction of these difficult problems in relatively short time without the use of prolonged external fixation or vascularized tissue transfer. While this is a dramatic injury with an even more dramatic back-story, we present this case because the principles of debridement and delayed bone grafting with this technique are useful and applicable to any orthopaedic trauma practice.

George Dyer, MD, is a Hand and Upper Extremity surgeon at the BWH and Director of the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program.  Trevor Owen, MD, is our graduating trauma fellow. Dr. Owen is joining the faculty of the Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, VA, as an orthopaedic trauma surgeon.

References1. Giannoudis P, Faour O, Goff T, et al. Masquelet technique for the treatment of

bone defects: tips-tricks and future directions. Injury 2011; 42: 591-598.

P A R T N E R S O R T H O P A E D I C T R A U M A R O U N D S

2 Trauma Rounds, Volume 3, Summer 2012

Trauma FacultyMark Vrahas, MD — 617-726-2943Partners Chief of Orthopaedic Traumamvrahas@partners.org

Mitchel B Harris, MD — 617-732-5385Chief, BWH Orthopedic Traumambharris@partners.orgR Malcolm Smith, MD, FRCS — 617-726-2794Chief, MGH Orthopaedic Traumarmsmith1@partners.orgDavid Lhowe, MD — 617-724-2800MGH Orthopaedic Traumadlhowe@partners.org

Michael Weaver, MD — 617-525-8088BWH Orthopedic Traumamjweaver@partners.org

Jesse Jupiter, MD — 617-726-5100MGH Hand & Upper Extremity Servicejjupiter@partners.org

David Ring, MD — 617-724-3953MGH Hand & Upper Extremity Servicedring@partners.org

Brandon E Earp, MD — 617-732-8064BWH Hand & Upper Extremity Servicebearp@partners.org

George Dyer, MD — 617-732-6607BWH Hand & Upper Extremity Servicegdyer@partners.org

John Kwon, MD — 617-643-5701MGH Foot & Ankle Servicejkwon@partners.org

Please share your comments online, or by email:Mark Vrahas, MD / mvrahas@partners.orgYawkey Center for Outpatient Care, Suite 3C55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114

Editor in Chief Mark Vrahas, MD

Program DirectorSuzanne Morrison, MPH(617) 525-8876smmorrison@partners.org

Editor, PublisherArun Shanbhag, PhD, MBAwww.MassGeneral.org/orthowww.BrighamAndWomens.org/orthopedics

AchesAndJoints.org/Trauma

In MemoriamRobert "Rob" Colen, D.O.September 8, 1960 - July 15, 2012

We sadly report the sudden passing of our friend and former Trauma Fellow, Rob Colen, DO. Dr Colen was a much respected member of our MGH Service from August 1999 to July 2000 and went on to a successful clinical and academic career at Botsford Hospital in Detroit. He is re-membered for his superb clinical skills and the compassionate care he provided to his patients. "Rob valued the contributions of all those who worked with him, and he set an example of orthopaedic trauma as a team effort. He was one of our best," remembers David Lhowe, MD.

Figure 2: Initial films showing nonunion of diaphyseal tibia (left), after initial debridement with antibiotic cement rod and spacer (center), final radiographs showing consolidation of the nonunion site (right).