Application of a pre-filled tissue expander for preventing soft tissue incarceration during tibial distraction osteogenesis.

Background: Bone transport and distraction osteogenesis has been widely used to treat bone defects after traumatic surgery, but, skin and soft tissue incarceration can be as high as 27.6%.

Aim: To investigate the efficacy of inserting a tissue expander to prevent soft tissue incarceration.

Methods: Between January 2016 and December 2018, 12 patients underwent implantation of a tissue expander in the subcutaneous layer in the vicinity of a tibial defect to maintain the soft tissue in position. A certain amount of normal saline was injected into the tissue expander during surgery and was then gradually extracted to shrink the expander during the course of transport distraction osteogenesis. The tissue expander was removed when the two ends of the tibial defect were close enough.

Results: In all 12 patients, the expanders remained intact in the subcutaneous layer of the bone defect area during the course of transport distraction osteogenesis. When bone transport was adequate, the expander was removed and the bone transport process was completed. During the whole process, there was no incarceration of skin and soft tissue in the bone defect area. Complications occurred in one patient, who experienced poor wound healing.

Conclusion: The pre-filled expander technique can effectively avoid soft tissue incarceration. The authors' primary success with this method indicates that it may be a valuable tool in the management of incarcerated soft tissue.