Reconstruction of an Extensive Segmental Radial Shaft Bone Defect by Vascularized 3D-Printed Graft Cage

• Published in: Journal of personalized medicine Vol. 14; no. 2; p. 178
• Main Authors: Mommsen, Philipp, März, Vincent, Krezdorn, Nicco, Aktas, Gökmen, Sehmisch, Stephan, Vogt, Peter Maria, Großner, Tobias, Omar Pacha, Tarek
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-02-2024
• Subjects: 3-D printers; Angiogenesis; Antibiotics; Bone grafts; Case reports; Debridement; Defects; Drug resistance; Fractures; Medical imaging; Osteosynthesis; Patients; Reconstructive surgery; Skin & tissue grafts; Tissue engineering; Vascularization; Germany; Switzerland; vascularization; large segmental defects; 3D-printed graft cage; bone reconstruction
• ISSN: 2075-4426; 2075-4426
• DOI: 10.3390/jpm14020178

We report here a 46-year-old male patient with a 14 cm segmental bone defect of the radial shaft after third degree open infected fracture caused by a shrapnel injury. The patient underwent fixed-angle plate osteosynthesis and bone reconstruction of the radial shaft by a vascularized 3D-printed graft cage, including plastic coverage with a latissimus dorsi flap and an additional central vascular pedicle. Bony reconstruction of segmental defects still represents a major challenge in musculo-skeletal surgery. Thereby, 3D-printed scaffolds or graft cages display a new treatment option for bone restoration. As missing vascularization sets the limits for the treatment of large-volume bone defects by 3D-printed scaffolds, in the present case, we firstly describe the reconstruction of an extensive radial shaft bone defect by using a graft cage with additional vascularization.