Treatment of tibial osteomyelitic defects and infected pseudarthroses by the Huntington fibular transference operation.

The Huntington fibular transference operation was done in three patients with tibial defects resulting from osteomyelitis and in three patients with infected pseudarthroses. It has proved to be an ideal procedure when the local condition of either skin or bone, or both, is not suitable for conventional bone-grafting operations. The fibula, transferred as a pedicle graft, hypertrophies under weight-bearing stresses, fixing the tibial fragments and stimulating osteogenesis. The procedure is carried out in two stages and bypasses the site of infection. It does not carry the risk of causing a flare-up of infection and it is most suitable for young patients.