The reconstruction of the knee in growing children considers many options and the chosen solution is often patient (or surgeon) based. Megaprostheses represent a reliable solution but quite expensive in the non-invasive growing version and not free from complications. In an Italian reference center for Bone and Soft tissue sarcomas, following the experience of Rizzoli Institute in Bologna, we performed the reconstruction with a resurfaced allograft for the distal femur or the proximal tibia in selected patients. The aim of the study is to confirm the reliability of this technique and to identify its potential advantages and indications. Among 60 children below 16 years old with bone sarcomas (39 osteosarcomas, 21 Ewing's sarcomas, age range 4–16) treated since 2007, 35 cases were around the hip and the knee. 7 pediatric knees (age range 5–12 ys) with the tumor involving the epiphysis were reconstructed using a resurfaced allograft for distal femur (2) or proximal tibia (6) leaving intact the other half of the joint. Functional outcome (MSTS score), complication rate, and oncologic follow up were evaluated.Introduction
Methods
Historically, amputation or rotationplasty were the treatment of choice in skeletally immature patients. The introduction of expandable endoprostheses in the late 1980s offered the advantages of limb-salvage and limb length equality at skeletal maturity and a promising alternative with improved cosmetic results and immediate weight bearing. to describe the Rizzoli experience in reconstruction with three different types of expandable prostheses in growing children with malignant bone tumors of the femur, assess the outcome of limb salvage in these patients, analyze survival and complications related to these prostheses used over time.Introduction
Objective
Rotationplasty was first described in 1930 by Borggreve for treatment of limb shortening with knee ankylosis after tuberculosis. In 1948, Van Nes described its use for management of congenital defects of the femur and in the 1980s, Kotz and Salzer reported on patients with malignant bone tumors around the knee treated by rotationplasty as an alternative to above-knee amputation. Currently, rotationplasty is one of the options for surgical management of lower extremity bone sarcomas in skeletally immature patients but alternative limb salvage techniques, such as the use of expandable endoprosthesis, are also available. Despite rather satisfactory functional results have been uniformly associated with rotationplasty, concern still exists about the potential psychological impact of the new body imagerelated to the strange appearance of the rotated limb. Results of rotationplasty for sarcomas of the distal femur over a 20-year period were analyzed, focusing on long-term survival, function, quality of life and mental health. Retrospective study of 73 children who had a rotationplasty performed at two institutions between 1984 and 2007 for a bone sarcoma of the distal femur; 42 males and 31 females, mean age at surgery 8.7 yrs (range 3–17). Four patients were converted to transfemoral amputation due to early vascular complication; 25 eventually died of their disease (mean survival 34 months, range 4–127). The 46 remaining survivors were evaluated for updated clinical outcome, MSTS score, gait analysis, SF-36 score, quality of life interview and psychological assessment at mean follow-up of 15 yrs (range 3–23).Purpose
Method
