Induced membrane technique for the treatment of congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia: preliminary results of five cases

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the two-stage surgical technique combining induced membrane, spongy autograft and intramedullary fixation for the treatment of congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia (CPT). Methods Three boys and two girls were treated by this technique between 2003 and 2008. All patients had type IV CPT in Crawford’s classification. Four of them had a limited dystrophic form, whereas one case presented an extensive tibia bone dystrophy. The average age of patients at the time of surgery was 23 months (range 10–30 months), with an average follow-up of 5.8 years (range 2.4–8.1 years). Results Satisfactory tibial bony union was achieved in all cases at the last follow-up. Bone healing was obtained in the four limited forms after an average term of 4 months. One patient suffered from a non-displaced fracture that healed by casting in a usual period of time. The patient with an extensive dystrophic bone had to undergo a secondary inter-tibiofibular bone graft to finally achieve bone union. Conclusions The preliminary results show that this technique is successful in CPT. It may be used even in young children and offers a good alternative to other treatments available, avoiding external fixation and the technical difficulties of microvascular surgery.