The use of pedicled muscle flaps in the surgical treatment of chronic osteomyelitis resulting from compound fractures.

Abstract

1. The use of pedicled muscle flaps in the surgical treatment of chronic osteomyelitis is a useful procedure, since 84 per cent. of the wounds remained closed after operation. In cases treated identically, except that a muscle transplant was not rotated into the osteomyelitic cavity, only 43 per cent. of the wounds remained closed after operation. 2. The use of pedicled muscle flaps is recommended in the surgical treatment of chronic osteomyelitis from any cause, and its application is certainly not limited to chronic bone infection following gunshot wounds and compound fractures. 3. Muscle which has been deliberately placed in osteomyelitic cavities at the time of surgery would appear to have a favorable effect on penicillin-resistant organisms. In twenty-three out of twenty-seven cases which were contaminated with such bacteria, or 85 per cent., the wounds remained closed. 4. No significant disturbance in muscle function was observed after the use of a portion of the main muscle to obliterate the bone cavity which had been created surgically, and no serious untoward reactions occurred locally or generally from the closure of these wounds.