Chronic calcaneal osteomyelitis associated with soft-tissue defect could be successfully treated with platelet-rich plasma: a case report

Chronic osteomyelitis associated with soft-tissue defect following surgical management is a severe complication for orthopaedic surgeons. Traditionally, the treatment protocol for the notorious complication involved thorough debridement, bone grafting, long-term antibiotic use and flap surgery. Alternatively, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), a high concentration of platelets collected via centrifugation, has been successfully used as an adjuvant treatment for bone and soft-tissue infection in medical practices. PRP has numerous significant advantages, including stypsis, inflammation remission and reducing the amount of infected fluid. It increases bone and soft-tissue healing and allows fewer opportunities for transplant rejection. Through many years of studies showing the advantages of PRP, it has become preferred organic product for the clinical treatment of infections, especially for chronic osteomyelitis associated with soft-tissue defect. To promote the clinical use of this simple and efficacious technique in trauma, we report the case of a patient with chronic calcaneal osteomyelitis associated with soft-tissue defect that healed uneventfully with PRP.