[Results following spongiosa transplantation in giant cell tumor of bone]

Between 1952-1988 47 giant cell tumors of the bone were treated at the Orthopedic University Clinic of Vienna with different surgical margins: In 9 cases a radical or wide, in 3 cases a marginal and in 35 cases an intralesional resection was performed. In the cases with intralesional resections the tumors were diligently curatted and the resulting bone cavity was shaved with a rase. In addition in eleven cases a chemical cauterization was done with phenol. Afterwards the lesion was filled up with autogenous or homogeneous bone chips with or without fibrin tissucol. In the cases where phenol was used no local recurrence was observed over a mean period of 39 months (max. 91, min. 6) of follow up. Because of the subchondral joint location of the giant cell tumors of the extremities a radical or wide resection usually causes the loss of a part of the joint which is followed by poor functional results. Intralesional resections in combination with phenol cauterization not only achieved good functional results, but also succeeded in reducing the rate of local recurrencies from 25-44% in 0 as described by other authors.