Figure 1

Male patient 19 years of age with infected non-union after intramedullary nailing of an open tibial fracture. (A). Anteroposterior (AP) and lateral X-rays of the tibia illustrating osteolysis (white arrow) secondary to infection. The patient underwent removal of the nail, extensive debridement and a two-staged reconstruction of the bone defect, using the induced membrane technique for bone regeneration (the Masquelet technique). (B) Intraoperative pictures showing: (1) a 60 mm defect of the tibia (black arrow) at the second stage of the procedure; (2) adequate mechanical stability was provided with internal fixation (locking plate) bridging the defect, while the length was maintained (black arrow); (3) maximum biological stimulation was provided using autologous bone graft harvested from the femoral canal (black arrow, right), bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells (broken arrow, left) and the osteoinductive factor bone morphogenetic protein-7 (centre); (4) the graft was placed to fill the bone defect (black arrow). (C) Intraoperative fluoroscopic images showing the bone defect after fixation. (D) Postoperative AP and lateral X-rays at 3 months, showing the evolution of the bone regeneration process with satisfactory incorporation and mineralisation of the graft (photographs courtesy of PVG).