Intercalary allograft reconstruction showed positive long-term outcomes
Intercalary allograft reconstruction is an acceptable reconstructive option for the treatment of lower extremity bone tumors, according to published results.
Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands studied the long-term clinical outcomes of this reconstructive technique in their 10-year minimum, retrospective, multicenter, cohort study.
From 1980 to 2006, 131 patients (mean age of 19 years) who received an intercalary allograft reconstruction in a lower extremity were analyzed for incidence of mechanical failure and infection, according to the abstract. Mortality and disease progression were also recorded. The most prevalent diagnoses were osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma and chondrosarcoma.
“Nonunion occurred in 21 reconstructions (16%), after a median of 16 months, and was associated with intramedullary nail-only xation and xation with nonbridging plates,” P.T.J. Sanders, MD, and colleagues wrote in the abstract. “Allograft fracture occurred in 25 reconstructions (19%) after a median of 42 months,” they wrote.
The researchers hypothesized that increasing the rigidity of the construct could lead to better treatment outcomes.
“Intercalary allograft reconstruction is an acceptable reconstructive option, mainly because of the absence of superior alternatives with a known track record,” the researchers concluded. “However, a considerable and continuing risk of mechanical complications should be taken into account,” they added.
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