Masquelet technique combined with a lantern-mimicking frame system for treatment of a 28-cm infected bone defect: a case report.

Introduction: Treatment of large bone defects resulting from acute injury or infection remains challenging. The Masquelet technique is a two-stage procedure for treating bone defects caused by bone tumor resection, infection, or trauma. There are currently no reports of successful repair of ≥28 cm bone defects using the Masquelet technique. Case presentation: We describe the case of a 55-year-old man with postoperative infection of a femoral fracture and a 28-cm infected bone defect formed after multiple debridement procedures. The Masquelet technique, when coupled with a Lantern-Mimicking Frame System (LMFS), achieved favorable clinical results. The patient could walk normally without crutches 14 months postoperatively and did not experience pain in daily life. Conclusions: This was the longest bone defect in a single limb currently reported to had been cured in the literature. The Masquelet technique coupled with LMFS achieved favorable clinical results for the treatment of a 28-cm infected bone defect. For extremely large bone defects in a single limb, the length of the defect was not an absolute limiting condition for the indications of Masquelet technique.