Sacroiliac joint fusion navigation: how accurate is pin placement?

OBJECTIVE: Sacroiliac joint (SIJ) fusion utilizing intraoperative navigation requires a standard reference frame, which is often placed using a percutaneous pin. Proper placement ensures the correct positioning of SIJ fusion implants. There is currently no grading scheme for evaluation of pin placement into the pelvis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of ideal percutaneous pin placement into the posterior ilium during navigated SIJ fusion. METHODS: After IRB approval was obtained, electronic medical records and intraoperative computed tomography images of patients who underwent navigated SIJ fusion by the senior author between October 2013 and January 2020 were reviewed. A pin placement grading scheme and the definition of "ideal" placement were developed by the authors and deemed acceptable by fellow attending surgeons. Six attending surgeons completed two rounds of pin placement grading, and statistical analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Of 90 eligible patients, 73.3% had ideal pin placement, 17.8% medial/lateral breach, and 8.9% complete miss. Male patients were 3.7 times more likely to have ideal placement than females (p < 0.05). There was no relationship between BMI, SIJ fusion laterality, or pin placement laterality and ideal placement. Interobserver reliability was 0.72 and 0.70 in the first and second rounds, respectively, and defined as "substantial agreement." Intraobserver reliability ranged from 0.74 (substantial agreement) to 0.92 (almost perfect agreement). CONCLUSIONS: Nonideal pin placement occurred in 26.7% of cases, but a true "miss" into the sacrum was rare. Ideal pin placement was more likely in males and was not associated with BMI, SIJ fusion laterality, or pin placement laterality. The grading scheme developed has high intraobserver and interobserver reliability, indicating that it is reproducible and can be used for future studies. When placing percutaneous pins, surgeons must be aware of factors that can decrease placement accuracy, regardless of location.

Reconstruction of the Shoulder and Humerus in Metastatic Bone Disease.

Metastatic disease involving the skeleton most often affects the spine, pelvis, and proximal long bones of the extremities. In the upper extremity, the proximal humerus is frequently affected. Although many of the principles of managing metastatic bone disease are similar, regardless of the metastatic site, the upper extremity has some unique anatomic and functional traits that warrant consideration when making management decisions. The main anatomic differences from the lower extremity pertain to the smaller bone size, rotator cuff function, and proximity to major neurologic structures, and the important functional differences that relate to activities of daily living have a greater dependence on the upper, rather than lower, extremity; greater range of motion of the shoulder; side dominance; limited weight-bearing function; and marked propensity of the elbow to develop stiffness. Clinicians should consider aspects of the shoulder and humerus as they relate to the overall management of metastatic bone disease, either monostotic or polyostotic, when evaluating and managing metastatic lesions at this site.

Phosphaturic Mesenchymal Tumor: An Unusual Cause of Stress Fractures Presenting to Sports Medicine.

Phosphaturic mesenchymal tumors (PMT) are a rare neoplasm oftentimes associated with tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO). The non-specific presentation and symptoms of these pathologies make them difficult to diagnose. We report a case of a 52-year-old patient with an intermetatarsal phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor who presented to the orthopedic sports medicine clinic with metabolic deficiencies and bilateral subtrochanteric cortical stress fractures indicative of osteomalacia. The tumor was entirely resected within nine months of symptom onset and has shown no recurrence at the one-year follow-up. This case report characterizes an unusual cause of stress fractures presenting to orthopedic sports medicine clinics and the variability in the presentation of phosphaturic mesenchymal tumors.

Curettage and graft alleviates athletic-limiting pain in benign lytic bone lesions.

BACKGROUND: Solitary bone cysts (SBC), nonossifying fibromas (NOF), and fibrous dysplasia (FD) create benign intramedullary lytic bone lesions. They are typically asymptomatic and treated conservatively. We present a series of lesions that caused performance-limiting pain in young athletes, a symptom phenomenon and possible treatment indication that has been poorly described in the literature. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We asked whether intralesional curettage and defect grafting of these lesions would alleviate pain in young athletes and permit their return to unrestricted athletic activities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively identified 29 patients (30 lesions) who underwent curettage and grafting for SBC (12 patients), NOF (nine), or FD (eight). All patients had pain predominantly with athletic involvement. The mean age of the patients was 18 years (range, 12-31 years). Tumor locations were the femur (eight lesions), humerus (seven), tibia (six), fibula (five), pubic ramus (two), ulna (one), and calcaneus (one). Signs/symptoms were pain alone (24 patients) and pain plus fracture (five). Surgery involved curettage and packing with allograft cancellous chips, bone substitute, or demineralized bone matrix. Two patients required internal fixation. The mean followup was 21 months (range, 2-114 months). RESULTS: Twenty-four patients had no pain and five had occasional mild pain at last followup. All patients resumed full activity at a mean of 3.3 months (range, 1.5-8.3 months), excluding two who required repeat surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Our observations suggest curettage and packing with bone graft/substitute can provide pain relief and allow full athletic recovery for young athletes with benign lytic bone lesions. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Safety of a Noninvasive Expandable Electromagnetic Prosthesis with an In Situ Ventricular Assist Device: A Case Report.

CASE: An 8-year-old girl was diagnosed with osteosarcoma of the distal femur. She underwent chemotherapy and wide resection with implantation of a noninvasive electromagnetic expandable distal femur prosthesis. Ninety-three days after chemotherapy, she developed anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy with heart failure for which a ventricular assist device was placed. Device compatibility was tested, and she was successfully lengthened. CONCLUSION: Expandable prostheses allow limb length maintenance in skeletally immature patients who undergo limb salvage. Chemotherapy for osteosarcoma involves anthracyclines with a dose-dependent side effect of cardiotoxicity. Patients can be successfully and safely lengthened with expandable electromagnetic prostheses with in situ ventricular assist devices.

Case report: hemosiderotic fibrohistiocytic lipomatous lesion: a clinicopathologic characterization.

BACKGROUND: A hemosiderotic fibrohistiocytic lipomatous lesion, also called hemosiderotic fibrolipomatous tumor, is a rare and recently described fibrolipomatous entity. Initially considered the result of a reactive inflammatory process from trauma or vascular disease, newer evidence suggests it may be neoplastic in origin. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a 56-year-old woman with a painful mass in the dorsal aspect of the foot diagnosed as a hemosiderotic fibrohistiocytic lipomatous lesion. LITERATURE REVIEW: We reviewed all 31 published cases of hemosiderotic fibrohistiocytic lipomatous lesions looking for common clinical, imaging, and histologic patterns. Hemosiderotic fibrohistiocytic lipomatous lesions occur predominantly in the fifth and sixth decades of life (average age, 49.5 years; range, 0.67-74 years). Females predominate 22 to 9. Thirteen of 28 patients had histories of trauma or vasculopathy. Twenty-six of 31 lesions were in the foot. The MRI signal of a hemosiderotic fibrohistiocytic lipomatous lesion follows fat in all sequences. Stranding or septations also frequently are seen. Histologically, the lesions are composed of three main elements in varying proportions: mature adipocytes, spindle cells, and hemosiderin pigment. Ten of 27 resected lesions recurred. Resection types are not reported in many cases. Four of 15 lesions recurred after marginal/intralesional excision, whereas none of three lesions treated by wide excision recurred. PURPOSE AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The high recurrence rate may be related to the difficulty in determining intraoperatively that a resection is complete, secondary to the lack of anatomic boundaries such as a pseudocapsule. Any attempt at wide resection must weigh the morbidity of this surgery against that of a recurrence after a resection which seemed complete intraoperatively. There have been no reports of metastasis.

Conservative treatment of Campanacci grade III proximal humerus giant cell tumors.

UNLABELLED: Management of large giant cell tumors of the proximal humerus is controversial because wide resection with reconstruction results in a poor functional outcome for most patients. We retrospectively reviewed the cases of six patients with Campanacci Grade III giant cell tumors of the proximal humerus to determine the feasibility of avoiding en bloc resections for large giant cell tumors in this location. We evacuated the tumor through curettage and then used burring (unless the remaining cavity was thinned and at risk for fracture) and phenolization, followed by packing of the defect with allograft cancellous bone. The mean age of the patients at surgery was 30 years, and the minimum followup was 2.5 years (mean, 5.6 years; range, 2.5-9.7 years). One of the six patients had local recurrence 1.2 years postoperatively and was treated with repeat intralesional surgery with no additional recurrence 5 years later. No other patient required additional treatment, had pulmonary metastases develop, or had progression to osteoarthritis. The mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society and Toronto Extremity Salvage Score functional scores at last followup were 26 of 30 (range, 21-30) and 95% (range, 90%-100%), respectively. These functional scores are higher than reported scores for patients with segmental resection and reconstruction of the proximal humerus. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Internal hemipelvectomy for pelvic sarcomas using a T-incision surgical approach.

UNLABELLED: Internal hemipelvectomy is performed for pelvic sarcomas when the tumor can be safely resected without sacrificing the entire extremity. Wide exposure and awareness of major neurovascular structures are crucial to the success of this surgery. Various modifications on the standard utilitarian approach have been used to best achieve these goals. We reviewed our experience using the T-incision technique for 30 pelvic sarcoma resections. The minimum followup was 3.6 months (mean, 55 months; range, 3.6-185.4 months). Postoperative complications included minor complications (requiring no surgery or a simple incision and drainage with primary closure) in 27% of patients and major complications (involving a deep infection or more extensive surgical treatment) in 17%. Ninety-two percent of wound complications healed uneventfully with antibiotics and incision and drainage. The 2-, 5-, and 10-year patient survival rates were 67%, 59%, and 53%. The 2-, 5-, and 10-year disease-free survival rates were 68%, 42%, and 42%. The mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society and Toronto Extremity Salvage Scores were 69% and 86%, respectively. We believe the T-incision technique for internal hemipelvectomy is an effective surgical approach for pelvic sarcomas when limb salvage is possible. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Ethanol sclerotherapy reduces pain in symptomatic musculoskeletal hemangiomas.

UNLABELLED: Hemangiomas, benign vascular lesions, require intervention if causing pain or functional limitations. Functional deficits are common after excision, favoring minimally invasive treatments. To determine whether ethanol sclerotherapy reduces pain and lesion size and to assess complications in symptomatic musculoskeletal hemangiomas, we retrospectively reviewed 19 patients (six males, 13 females; mean age, 34 years) meeting criteria of confirmed hemangioma, treatment with ethanol sclerotherapy, and minimum of 6 weeks of followup. Fourteen were primary lesions and five were recurrent; all were painful. Thirty-eight sclerotherapy procedures were performed, with each patient undergoing a maximum of three procedures. Mean followup was 24 months (range, 2-95 months). Four patients reported full pain relief, 11 had partial relief, and four had no relief. With recurrent lesions, one patient had full pain relief, one had partial relief, and three had no relief. For patients with lesions larger than 5 cm, two had full relief, six had partial relief, and three had no relief. Lesion shrinkage occurred in 12 patients. Temporary complications included paresthesiae (three), tendon contracture (one), skin breakdown (one), and deep vein thrombosis (one). Ethanol sclerotherapy afforded prompt pain relief in 15 of 19 patients with hemangioma, making it a reasonable option for initially avoiding surgical excision. However, the short followup of our patients requires additional long-term studies to assess the duration of the results. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Long-term results for limb salvage with osteoarticular allograft reconstruction.

UNLABELLED: Osteoarticular allograft reconstruction after extremity tumor resection has been shown to have a high rate of complications. Although good functional results have been seen, long-term outcomes have not been well studied. We performed a retrospective review of 20 patients who underwent primary osteoarticular allograft reconstruction after extremity sarcoma resection. All postoperative complications related to the allograft reconstruction were recorded. Musculoskeletal Tumor Society 1993 and Toronto Extremity Salvage Score scores were used for functional evaluation at last followup. Minimum followup was 10 years (mean, 16 years; range, 10-21 years). Seventy percent of patients experienced an event during the followup period. Recorded events were fracture (nine patients), progressive arthritis (five), nonunion (four), and infection (two). Sixty percent of allografts were removed at a mean of 5.2 years. Progressive arthritis led to total joint arthroplasty in five patients (25%). Mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society and Toronto Extremity Salvage Score functional scores were 25 of 30 and 95% for patients who retained their original allograft. Osteoarticular allograft reconstruction for extremity sarcomas had a high rate of adverse events (70%) and allograft removal (60%) at long-term followup. Functional outcomes of patients with intact grafts were comparable to outcomes with segmental replacement prostheses reported in the literature. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Current surgical management of bone metastases in the extremities and pelvis.

Surgical management of metastases to the extremities and pelvis has benefited from advances in the technology of internal fixation, as well as the increased availability of options for large endoprostheses. Contoured periarticular plates and the screws that attach rigidly to the plates have made fixation into weakened bone more reliable and easier to provide. For massive bone loss, modular endoprostheses are now widely available. These options supplemented with bone cement (polymethylmethacrylate) give patients the ability to have most bone defects reinforced or replaced such that the patient can begin using the affected limb almost immediately.

Desmoid tumors and current status of management.

Desmoid tumors, also known as aggressive fibromatosis, are rare fibroblastic tumors that exhibit a wide range of local aggressiveness, from largely indolent to locally destructive. Understanding of the pathogenesis and the great heterogeneity in the natural history of desmoid tumors is invaluable to the development of therapeutic strategies. The optimal treatment protocol has not yet been established and, in many cases, a multidisciplinary approach including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy has been employed. The rarity of cases in even major tumor centers has traditionally limited the ability to study this disease. Several novel pharmacologic and biologic treatment approaches are actively being developed, although long-term follow-up is needed for their substantiation.

Vascular endothelial growth factor improves bone repair in a murine nonunion model.

OBJECTIVES: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic factor that plays an important role during skeletal development and fracture healing. Previous experimental studies have shown that VEGF applied immediately after injury can stimulate bone repair in animal fracture nonunion models. However, the effectiveness of VEGF on an established fracture non-union has not been determined. the goal of this work was to test the ability of VEGF applied at a later stage on the healing of fracture nonunions. METHODS: In this study, a murine non-union model was induced by rapid distraction of a tibia osteotomy. this model exhibits radiological and histological evidence of impaired fracture healing at 7 days after the completion of distraction. VEGF (10 µg in 20 µl Pbs/day, n=10) or control (20 µl Pbs/day, n=10) was injected directly into the distraction gap through the posterior musculature on three consecutive days (7, 8, and 9 days after completing distraction). A third group of animals (n=10) with rapid distraction, but no injections, served as non-treated controls. Fracture healing was analyzed by x-ray, histology, and histomorphometry at 27 days after the last round of distraction. RESULTS: radiographs showed that half of the VEGF treated animals (5/10) achieved bony healing whereas the majority of Pbs treated (7/10) and non-treated controls (8/10) did not exhibit bone bridging. Histological and histomorphometric analyses demonstrated that VEGF increased, but not significantly, the amount of bone formed in the distraction gap (1.35 ± 0.35 mm(3)), compared to the saline treated (0.77 ± 0.25 mm(3), p=0.19) and non-treated animals (0.79 ± 0.23mm(3), p=0.12). CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study demonstrate that VEGF potentially promotes bone repair, warranting further research in this direction.

Early outcomes for malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor treated with chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVES: Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) are rare soft-tissue sarcomas with a tendency for recurrence and metastasis. Treatment using chemotherapy is controversial, but benefit with some agents has been described. This study aimed to analyze early survival outcomes using doxorubicin and ifosfamide chemotherapy for MPNST. METHODS: Pathology records at our musculoskeletal tumor center were searched for patients with a new diagnosis of MPNST between 2003 and 2008. Treatment involved surgical resection, radiation, and chemotherapy with doxorubicin and ifosfamide. Ten patients met inclusion criteria, with mean age 40 years (range, 20-70). Four patients had metastatic disease on presentation. Four patients had neurofibromatosis type I (NF1). RESULTS: Of 6 patients with nonmetastatic disease on presentation, 5 had no evidence of disease post-treatment. The sixth had positive margins after surgery and initially received no further treatment due to noncompliance. Three from this subgroup developed local recurrence, but none developed distant metastases and 1 died of disease at last follow-up. One- and 2-year disease-free survival (DFS) for this subgroup was 80% and 60%, respectively. One- and 2-year overall survival (OS) for the subgroup was 100%. Of 4 patients with metastatic disease on presentation, 2 had no evidence of disease post-treatment. One of these 2 developed local recurrence, but none from the subgroup developed new metastatic disease. Two of these 4 died of disease at last follow-up. One- and 2-year DFS for this subgroup was 100% and 50%, respectively. One- and 2-year OS was 75% and 50%, respectively. Two of the 4 patients presenting with metastatic disease had NF1. All 3 local recurrences and 2 of the 3 deaths in this study occurred in NF1 patients. CONCLUSIONS: For all patients, when combined with surgery and radiation, chemotherapy using doxorubicin and ifosfamide yielded 57% DFS and 80% OS at 2 years. NF1 patients appeared to have worse outcomes, with a statistically significantly lower DFS than non-NF1 patients. Limitations of this study include a small sample size, retrospective design, and use of different chemotherapy regimens.

Surgical complications associated with extensive tumoral calcinosis.

In this article, we describe the presenting features, radiographic appearance, and proposed pathogenesis of tumoral calcinosis; highlight the surgical complications we have encountered with the syndrome; and review the complications reported in the literature.