Humerus nail for tibial reconstruction in adolescent with osteogenesis imperfecta – A rare surgical case report

Abstract

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a rare connective tissue disorder known for excessive bone fragility caused by collagen mutations. The common orthopaedic problems related to bone fragility include frequent multiple bone fractures, progressive deformity of long bones leading to impaired ambulation. Surgical correction of long bone deformities in OI is conventionally done using distraction osteogenesis (illizarov fixator), elastic intramedullary nailing, rigid extramedullary fixation using plates, after osteotomy. Intramedullary fixation appears to be an ideal choice for correction of recurrent deformity in the long bone and the devices used previously include telescoping rods, single or dual non-elongating nails (rush nail, TENS). Recently in a case report of 3 individual patients, a humerus nail has been used to reconstruct femur in adolescents with OI. We report a case of humerus nailing for reconstruction of tibia in an adolescent OI male with excellent outcomes which is first of its kind and not reported previously by any other authors.