ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Despite advances in the treatment of primary cancer, metastatic pathologic fractures still affect the survival of cancer patients. The goals of surgery, such as those with terminal cancer, are to maintain a maximum level of independence and improve the quality of life. A patient may be a poor surgical candidate because of a short life expectancy or illness that is too severe to benefit from surgical fixation. Moreover, this surgery is an operation accompanied with significant morbidity and mortality. This retrospective study investigated the characteristics of these patients and assessed the influence of anesthetic risk factors on the outcome. METHODS: The records of 45 patients with pathologic fractures who underwent surgical stabilization for metastatic factors from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2013 at our hospital were reviewed. Demographic data, various severity scores, anesthetic factors, and survival were reviewed. RESULTS: The most common sites of primary tumors were lung, liver and stomach. The predominant sites of pathologic fractures were the femur (71.1%); six lesions were in the humerus and four in the spine. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified several prognostic factors with a significantly worse influence on survival, including lung tumor and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score. CONCLUSIONS: Although the number of patients was too small to result in a satisfactory appraisal, the most important step is to select candidates to gain the benefits of palliative surgery. We suggest the possibility of APACHE II scoring and the recognition of lung cancer in making the clinical decision of performing the palliative osteosyntheses for patients with pathologic fractures.