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J Hand Microsurg
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1762896
Case Report

A Case Report of Pin Site Osteomyelitis after 17 Years of External Fixator Application to Distal Radius Fracture

Tuan Hao Tan 
1   Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
,
Camelia Qian Ying Tang
2   Department of Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
,
Sechachalam Sreedharan
2   Department of Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
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Abstract

This case report presents an uncommon long-term complication of external fixator application to distal radius fracture. Despite an initial uneventful fracture healing, the patient presented with Brodie's abscess with Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis at the previous pin site 17 years later. A diagnosis of late-onset osteomyelitis, as a manifestation of quiescence chronic osteomyelitis, was made.

Keywords

distal radius fracture - complications - osteomyelitis - negative-pressure wound therapy - skin graft

Ethical Approval

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. Animals were not used in this study.


Informed Consent

No consent was required for this case report. All identifying characteristics have been altered to protect anonymity. Alterations to the figures do not distort the scientific meaning.




Publication History

Article published online:
15 March 2023

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