Tumor endoprosthesis revision rates increase with peri-operative chemotherapy but are reduced with the use of cemented implant fixation

Abstract

Chemotherapy may reduce osseointegration of tumor endoprosthesis, while delaying chemotherapy may reduce survival. We studied the effects of chemotherapy and cemented fixation on tumor endoprosthesis survivorship with a retrospective analysis of 50 consecutive patients receiving lower limb salvage surgery. We compared rates of radiographic loosening/revision and effect of cement fixation between chemotherapy/no chemotherapy cohorts. Chemotherapy increased the total revision rate (HR = 3.8 [1-14], P = 0.033), but did not affect aseptic loosening. Cement fixation reduced revision for loosening (HR = 0.09 (0.008-0.98), P = 0.012) and showed less radiographic loosening (HR = 0.09 (0.02-0.51), P = 0.00066). Cement fixation had lower rates of revision for loosening and radiographic loosening regardless of whether chemotherapy was given. We conclude that for these implants, cement fixation provides superior results to uncemented fixation.

Keywords: cementation; chemotherapy; endoprosthesis; implant survivorship; malignancy; surgical fixation.