title: Knee fusion with external skeletal fixation after an infected hinge prosthesis: a case report.
abstract: Deep sepsis is a serious postoperative complication of total knee hinge arthroplasty. Measures to eradicate the infection are time-consuming, expensive and often a threat to the limb and occasionally the life of the patient. At best, a successful result is a short leg with an arthrodesed knee. More often the patient is left with a painful fibrous ankylosis, or an above-knee amputation. The Hoffman external skeletal fixation device provides rigid fixation and allows early ambulation. Its use in combination with debridement and bone grafting can result in a successful arthrodesis with a minimum amount of shortening.
mesh_terms: D001174:Arthrodesis; D016025:Bone Transplantation; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007103:Immobilization; D007720:Knee Prosthesis; D008875:Middle Aged; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000628:therapy*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous