Infected internal fixation after ankle fractures--a treatment path.

In the emergency treatment of infected internal fixation after ankle fractures, the infection needs to be resolved quickly to protect the implants, bone, and tendons. Vacuum wound therapy (topical negative pressure therapy) has been used for more than 15 years to assist in closure and to accelerate healing of a wide range of wounds. In the present report, we describe the results of treatment of 7 angiopathic (dysvascular) patients who developed a deep wound infection after ankle osteosynthesis. Each patient was treated with initial surgical debridement, followed by vacuum wound therapy and meshed split-thickness skin graft transplantation. The mean inpatient length of vacuum wound therapy was 14.0 ± 4.31 days, and the mean total duration of vacuum treatment was 54.43 ± 7.74 days.