This 7-year old fell one month ago, injuring her left leg. Mother brought her today to the Lubango Evangelical Medical Center, where I found the girl draining copious pus from several tracts just below her knee.
Can you guess her diagnosis? Take a look at the X-ray:
She fractured the tibia, which immediately became infected and destroyed the upper one-third of the long bone. Will she be able to walk again? Today I opened her leg, drained the pus, and removed dead bone. Later, when the infection settles, my skilled colleagues, Steve Foster and Sam Fabiano, will likely bone graft her tibia in hopes of creating once again a leg that will bear her weight.