Application of the Ilizarov retraction technique for the treatment of traumatic clubfoot

A variety of injuries to the lower limbs can lead to traumatic foot drop, the treatment of which is a difficult problem in orthopedic surgery, in the past, patients with light deformity often use physical therapy with functional exercise, but often the effect is poor, the patient suffering a lot; for heavy deformity using Achilles tendon (including other tendons) lengthening, soft tissue release, ankle fusion and other treatment methods, although there is a certain effect, but because it is invasive surgery, traumatic, easy to fail However, because of the invasive surgery, it is easy to recur and has more complications. If the scar formation in the combined foot and ankle is serious, the tissues around the ankle joint are widely adhered and contracted, so the treatment effect cannot be achieved by releasing and lengthening several tendons alone, and the skin incision in the scar area is under high tension after surgery, which is not easy to heal and leads to the exposure of bone and tendon. Since the introduction of Ilizarov technique, it has gradually attracted the attention of surgical departments all over the world, and its application is one of the milestones in the development of orthopaedic surgery. In the past three years, I have achieved good results in the treatment of clubfoot deformity by applying this technique. Its core theory “Law of Tension-Stress” provides the theoretical basis for solving the problem of traumatic foot ptosis, and with this technique, the foot ptosis deformity caused by traumatic soft tissue contracture can be solved under minimally invasive operation. This treatment method has the following advantages: (1) Bone external fixation technique with multi-plane tension fine steel pins, which can eliminate shear and rotational forces, but also can play its tension-stress effect and periodic axial micro-movement characteristics during weight-bearing, which can promote tissue growth and reconstruction. (2) Closed penetration is less disruptive to the soft tissue blood supply, which is conducive to the regeneration of the stretched soft tissue; and is not affected by local soft tissue scarring. Even if other orthopedic surgery has been done, it can still be used as a remedial surgery; (3) during the treatment period, the patient can walk with the frame partially weight-bearing and carry out functional exercises; (4) the operation is simple, safe, and has few postoperative complications. Observe at any time and adjust the pulling device at any time; (5) no need to do incisional Achilles tendon lengthening surgery. Some authors reported that minimally invasive distraction technique using external fixation frame (without incisional Achilles tendon lengthening surgery.