Eleven patients carrying diaphyseal bone fissure secondary to ressection of infected bone segments, 5 in the femur and 6 in the tibia, submitted to the Ilizarov bone transport technique were retrospectively analyzed. In the group of patients with femoral lesion the bone fissure varied from 7 cm to 12 cm, and in two there was a 2 cm shortening of the limb. In the group with tibial lesion the bone fissure varied from 2.5 cm to 10 cm, with limb shortening in two patients, respectively 1.5 cm and 2 cm. The mean follow-up period since the end of the treatment until evaluation was 49 months for the femoral lesion patients and 28.3 months for the tibial lesion patients. The femoral transports were bifocal and the tibial transports were bifocal in 4 patients and trifocal in 2. In all, patients formation of regenerate occurred. Consolidation of the target focus was naturally obtained in 7 patients; one patient needed bone grafting to obtain the focus consolidation. In three patients the nonunion of the target focus demanded modification of the treatment method with the external circular fixator withdrawal. In all the patients infection adjacent to the wires was observed. There was rupture of the wires in all assemblies made in the thigh. All the wires lost the tension initially imposed to them. Two patients submitted to femoral transport evolved with septic arthritis of the knee. Mobility of the knee was severely impaired in the patients submitted to femoral transport, and the same was observed in relation to the ankle of patients submitted to tibial transport. All the patients with tibial lesions finished treatment with limb shortening, as well as 2 patients treated due to femoral lesion. During treatment none of the patients felt comfortable and all needed help to achieve partial support of the limb. All the patients were satisfied with the result. We concluded that the biological response to bone transport is remarkable, with the regenerate formation repairing big bone fissures. However, we consider that the external circular device recommended by Ilizarov causes several complications mainly related to presence of transfixing wires, causing suffering to the patients mainly when installed in the femur.
