Intramedullary nail fixation or prosthetic reconstruction should be chosen on the basis of the location of the lesion, the extent of bone destruction and the stability of the construct to outlast the expected life of the patient. Implant-related complication is similar but may occur earlier with prosthetic reconstructions.

We retrospectively reviewed 101 consecutive patients with 114 femoral tumours treated by massive bone allograft at our institution between 1986 and 2005. There were 49 females and 52 males with a mean age of 20 years (4 to 74). At a median follow-up of 9.3 years (2 to 19.8), 36 reconstructions (31.5%) had failed. The allograft itself failed in 27 reconstructions (24%). Mechanical complications such as delayed union, fracture and failure of fixation were studied. The most adverse factor on the outcome was the use of intramedullary nails, followed by post-operative chemotherapy, resection length > 17 cm and age > 18 years at the time of intervention. The simultaneous use of a vascularised fibular graft to protect the allograft from mechanical complications improved the outcome, but the use of intramedullary cementing was not as successful. In order to improve the strength of the reconstruction and to advance the biology of host-graft integration, we suggest avoiding the use of intramedullary nails and titanium plates, but instead using stainless steel plates, as these gave better results. The use of a supplementary vascularised fibular graft should be strongly considered in adult patients with resection > 17 cm and in those who require post-operative chemotherapy.

An allograft-prosthetic composite provides a versatile substitution of the pelvis and hip, with functional scores approximately 75% of normal.

Background Unicameral bone cysts are benign lesions that usually spontaneously regress with skeletal maturity; however, the high risk of pathologic fractures often justifies treatment that could reinforce a weakened bone cortex. Various treatments have been proposed but there is no consensus regarding the best procedure. Questions/purposes We compared the healing rates and failures of two methods of cure based on multiple injections of corticosteroid or a single injection of demineralized bone matrix (DBM) in association with bone marrow concentrate (BMC). Methods We retrospectively reviewed 184 patients who had one of the two treatments for unicameral bone cysts with cortical erosion. Clinical records were reviewed for treatment failures and radiographs for healing in all patients. The minimum followup was 12 months for the Steroids Group (mean, 48 months; range, 12-120 months) and 12 months for the DBM + BMC Group (mean, 20 months; range, 12-28 months).Results After one treatment we observed a lower healing rate of cysts treated with multiple injections of steroids compared with the healing after the first injection of DBM + BMC (21% versus 58%, respectively). At last followup, 38% healed with steroids and 71% with DBM + BMC. The rate of failure after one steroid injection was higher than after a single injection of BDM + BMC (63% versus 24%, respectively). We observed no difference in fracture rates after treatment between the two groups.