[Experiences with free and pedicled muscle tissue graft in the treatment of chronic post-traumatic osteomyelitis].

A relapse-free condition and/or healing of chronic posttraumatic osteomyelitis is obtained by 1. radical excision of the infected tissue, 2. absolute mechanical immobility in the area of the fracture, 3. optimized blood supply of soft tissues. The perfusion of soft tissues around the osteomyelitic focus is often disturbed due to large scar fields caused by injuries or repeated surgical interventions. It can be improved by means of plastic surgery with local muscle flaps or by transplantation of a free muscle flap with microsurgical connection of vessels. All muscles in which the axial vessels are predominant can be used for plastic surgery with local muscle flaps. In the leg, these are above all the musculi gastrocnemii and the musculus soleus. After having applied this method in six patients, we noticed that infection control could be achieved by this procedure after six to twelve months. When a free muscle flap (musculus latissimus dorsi) is used, the local soft tissue perfusion can be considerably ameliorated by these rather large muscle flaps, irrespective of the local blood flow after epicentric microsurgical connection of vessels. This is the precondition for the healing of the infection. Based on our own results, we discuss the difficulty to indicate exactly the duration and extent of the increased perfusion of transplanted muscles. As is shown by the clinical results available up to now, these two procedures make possible a considerably reduced recurrence rate in chronic posttraumatic osteomyelitis.