Surgical treatment of a teenager with an extensive wound defect of soft tissues against the background of severe combined injury

Abstract

Extensive posttraumatic wounds, affecting functionally active areas and complicated by a purulent–necrotic process, are a serious problem in the acute period of injury due to a critical condition and in reconstructive surgical treatment. This study presents the case of a 16-year-old victim of a transport accident on a ferry who underwent a surgical treatment. Due to a truck collision, the girl was crushed against the metal structure of the ship and received a severe combined injury: closed craniocerebral injury, moderate brain contusion, linear fracture of the occipital bone on the right, closed chest injury, fracture of 9–11 ribs on the right, closed abdominal injury, rupture of the right kidney, damage to the bladder, retroperitoneal hematoma on the right, closed spinal injury, fracture of the spinous processes of the L4–L5 vertebrae, open fractures of the pelvic bones, and extensive posttraumatic wounds of the right half of the pelvic girdle and hip joints. During the initial hospitalization, the following were performed within 2 days: laparotomy, nephrectomy of a crushed kidney on the right, suturing of the bladder, primary surgical treatment of the wound in the sacrogluteofemoral region on the right and the wound of the left thigh with their primary suturing, and external osteosynthesis of the pelvic bones with a rod-based external fixation device. The early postoperative period was complicated by necrosis of injured soft tissues and a new surgical infection (polyantibiotic-resistant strains of microorganisms), which led to an increase in the size of the wound defect and loss of soft tissues due to their purulent melting. Complex surgical treatment aimed at eliminating surgical infection and transferring the wound process to the regeneration phase included repeated surgical treatments and the use of modern dressings and negative pressure therapy. An extensive wound defect of soft tissues caused by and injury or surgical treatment for purulent–necrotic complication was found in the functionally active zone of the hip joint and in the sacral region, which required the restoration of the skin of these areas. A strategy for surgical repair of a soft tissue wound defect is presented. Nonfree (rotated) blood-supply flaps were used: fasciocutaneous muscle flap based on the musculus tensor fascia lata from the right thigh and gluteal fasciocutaneous flap from the left gluteal region. After multistage surgical treatment, it was possible to replace an extensive wound defect of soft tissues and restore full skin in the hip joint and sacrogluteal region, which enabled avoiding trophic disorders and joint contractures and ensured a satisfactory cosmetic and functional result during 5-year followup.