Preoperative Radiotherapy and Wide Resection for Soft Tissue Sarcomas: Achieving a Low Rate of Major Wound Complications with the Use of Flaps. Results of a Single Surgical Team

BackgroundSurgery in combination with radiotherapy (RT) has become the standard of care for most soft tissue sarcomas. The choice between pre- and postoperative RT is controversial. Preoperative RT is associated with a 32–35% rate of major wound complications (MWC) and 16–25% rate of reoperation. The role of vascularized soft tissue “flaps” in reducing complications is unclear. We report the outcomes of patients treated with preoperative RT, resection, and flap reconstruction.Patients and methods122 treatment episodes involving 117 patients were retrospectively reviewed. All patients were treated with 50.4 Gy of external beam radiation. Surgery was performed at 4–8 weeks after completion of RT by the same combination of orthopedic oncology and plastic reconstructive surgeon. Defects were reconstructed with 64 free and 59 pedicled/local flaps.Results30 (25%) patients experienced a MWC and 17 (14%) required further surgery. 20% of complications were exclusively related to the donor site. There was complete or partial loss of three flaps. There was no difference in the rate of MWC or reoperation for complications with respect to age, sex, tumor site, previous unplanned excision, tumor grade, depth, and type of flap. Tumor size ≥8 cm was associated with a higher rate of reoperation (11/44 vs 6/78; P = 0.008) but the rate of MWC was not significant (16/44 vs 14/78; P = 0.066).ConclusionThe use of soft tissue flaps is associated with a low rate of MWC and reoperation. Our results suggest that a high rate of flap usage may be required to observe a reduction in complication rates

Preoperative Radiotherapy and Wide Resection for Soft Tissue Sarcomas: Achieving a Low Rate of Major Wound Complications with the Use of Flaps. Results of a Single Surgical Team

Background: Surgery in combination with radiotherapy (RT) has become the standard of care for most soft tissue sarcomas. The choice between pre- and postoperative RT is controversial. Preoperative RT is associated with a 32-35% rate of major wound complications (MWC) and 16-25% rate of reoperation. The role of vascularized soft tissue "flaps" in reducing complications is unclear. We report the outcomes of patients treated with preoperative RT, resection, and flap reconstruction. Patients and methods: 122 treatment episodes involving 117 patients were retrospectively reviewed. All patients were treated with 50.4 Gy of external beam radiation. Surgery was performed at 4-8 weeks after completion of RT by the same combination of orthopedic oncology and plastic reconstructive surgeon. Defects were reconstructed with 64 free and 59 pedicled/local flaps. Results: 30 (25%) patients experienced a MWC and 17 (14%) required further surgery. 20% of complications were exclusively related to the donor site. There was complete or partial loss of three flaps. There was no difference in the rate of MWC or reoperation for complications with respect to age, sex, tumor site, previous unplanned excision, tumor grade, depth, and type of flap. Tumor size ≥8 cm was associated with a higher rate of reoperation (11/44 vs 6/78; P = 0.008) but the rate of MWC was not significant (16/44 vs 14/78; P = 0.066). Conclusion: The use of soft tissue flaps is associated with a low rate of MWC and reoperation. Our results suggest that a high rate of flap usage may be required to observe a reduction in complication rates

Clinical Study Extracorporeal Irradiation and Reimplantation with Total Hip Arthroplasty for Periacetabular Pelvic Resections: A Review of 9 Cases

We report the early results of nine patients with periacetabular malignancies treated with Enneking and Dunham type 2 resection and reconstruction using extracorporeally irradiated (ECI) tumour bone combined with total hip arthroplasty (THA). Diagnosis was chondrosarcoma in six patients, osteosarcoma in two patients, and metastatic renal cell carcinoma in one patient. All patients underwent surgical resection and the resected specimen was irradiated with 50 Gy in a single fraction before being prepared for reimplantation as a composite autograft. The mean follow-up was 21 months (range, 3-59). All patients were alive at latest followup. No local recurrence was observed. One patient serially developed three pulmonary metastases, all of which were resected. One experienced hip dislocation due to incorrect seating of an acetabular liner. This was successfully treated with revision of the liner with no further episodes of instability. There were no cases of deep infection or loss of graft. The average Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) score was 75% (range, 57-87%). Type 2 pelvic reconstruction with ECI and THA has shown excellent early oncological and functional results in our series. Preservation of the gluteus maximus and hip abductors is important for joint stability and prevention of infection