Adjuvant combined ozone therapy for extensive wound over tibia

Disinfectant and antibacterial properties of ozone are utilized in the treatment of nonhealing or ischemic wounds. We present here a case of 59 years old woman with compartment syndrome following surgical treatment of stress fracture of proximal tibia with extensively infected wound and exposed tibia to about 4/5 of its extent. The knee joint was also infected with active pus draining from a medial wound. At presentation the patient had already taken treatment for 15 days in the form of repeated wound debridements and parenteral antibiotics, which failed to heal the wound and she was advised amputation. Topical ozone therapy twice daily and ozone autohemotherapy once daily were given to the patient along with daily dressings and parenteral antibiotics. Within 5 days, the wound was healthy enough for spilt thickness skin graft to provide biological dressing to the exposed tibia bone. Topical ozone therapy was continued for further 5 days till the knee wound healed. On the 15th day, implant removal, intramedullary nailing, and latissimus dorsi pedicle flap were performed. Both the bone and the soft tissue healed without further complications and at 20 months follow-up, the patient was walking independently with minimal disability.