ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2025
Ring-and-flap: a novel and accessible alternative to fix-and-flap in Gustilo IIIB-C open tibia fractures (an institutional experience).
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe fix-and-flap regime is resource intense and may not be readily available. As an alternative, the ring fixator serves as a versatile option for limb salvage, however it poses challenges to soft tissue reconstruction due to the limited working space around the rings and pins. We describe an institutional experience with a novel ring-and-flap regime utilising an open ring technique-which optimises the ring fixator construct for the flexibility of interval soft-tissue reconstruction.
methodsA retrospective review of patients treated with a novel ring-and-flap regime over 2017-2024 was conducted. Demographic data, comorbidities, intraoperative details, and postoperative outcomes were collected.
results6 patients were included. Soft tissue reconstruction took place at a median of 12 days (minimum 2, maximum 154) after ring fixation. The median duration on the ring fixator was 144 days (minimum 74, maximum 270). Most patients (4/6) developed osteomyelitis but all achieved union and regained ambulatory function. 2/6 required flap revision due to vascular thrombosis. The ring fixator served as definitive fixation in 2 patients; whilst the remainder opted for internalisation.
conclusionThe novel ring-and-flap regime may provide a practical and safe pathway for limb salvage in resource limited settings, bridging the gap until specialised ortho-plastics care is available.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.