Functional and Oncological Outcome After Treatment of Chondroblastoma With Intralesional Curettage.

BACKGROUND: Chondroblastoma is a rare cartilaginous benign bone tumor that commonly arises in long bones of young people. Surgical management is the primary treatment of choice for chondroblastoma and it entails adequate intralesional curettage alone or in combination with adjuvants. This study was performed to describe the epidemiological characteristics and clinical and radiologic results of intralesional curettage of chondroblastoma. METHODS: This was a retrospective study which included an analysis of 91 patients with chondroblastoma who were treated with intralesional curettage and were followed up between 1994 and 2014 for at least 3 years. Epidemiological data, clinical symptoms, radiologic and histologic investigations, surgery, functional outcomes, complications, and local recurrence rate were analyzed. RESULTS: There were 60 males (65.9%) and 31 females (34.1%) with a mean age of 16.4 years. The most commonly involved bone was the proximal tibia in 24 patients (26.4%), followed by distal femur in 20 patients (22%), proximal humerus in 17 patients (18.7%) and proximal femur in 15 patients (16.6%). All patients underwent intralesional curettage. High-speed burr was used in 66 patients (72.5%). The resultant cavity was filled with autogenous bone graft, bone substitute, bone cement or a combination of bone graft and cement. Four patients (4.4%) had complications. Three patients (3.3%) developed local recurrence. Age, site, history of previous intervention or pathologic fracture had no impact on the rate of recurrence. The mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) score was 28.88 (range, 24 to 30) points. CONCLUSIONS: Thorough curettage using high-speed burr and bone-grafting or bone cement in the treatment of chondroblastoma has good local control, low recurrence rate and excellent functional long-term outcome. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, retrospective case series.

Shoulder reconstruction after tumor resection by pedicled scapular crest graft.

The current authors present and evaluate a technique for reconstructing proximal humeral defects that result after resection of malignant bone tumors. Sixteen patients were included in this study with an average followup of 3 years (range, 12-76 months). Twelve patients had intraarticular resections, two had extraarticular resections, and two had intercalary resections. Reconstruction was done at the lateral border of the scapula (based on the circumflex scapular vessels) that was osteotomized and mobilized to bridge the resultant defect. Shoulder arthrodesis was done in 14 patients and the shoulder was spared in the two patients who had intercalary resections. Function was evaluated according to the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society scoring system. The average time for union of the graft proximally and distally was 6 months after which the graft started to hypertrophy. The average functional score was 22.5 points (75%) with a minimum score of 18 points (60%) and a maximum score of 27 points (90%). Nonunion of the distal host-graft junction occurred in two patients; both patients required iliac crest bone grafting and both achieved clinical and radiographic union without additional intervention. In three patients, the proximal fixation became loose but had no effect on function. The authors conclude that this technique is inexpensive, effective, and a durable reconstructive option for proximal humeral defects that are less than 15 cm. It has a predictable functional outcome (60%-90%) that is comparable with other reconstructive options.