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Functional recovery after surgical stabilization and postoperative radiotherapy due to metastases of long bones
Irenäus A Adamietz1,2, Michal J Wolanczyk3
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Marien Hospital Herne, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Hölkeskampring 40, 44625, Herne, Germany. irenaeus.adamietz@rub.de.
Purpose:
To reinvestigate the functional recovery after combined treatment with surgery and postoperative irradiation of complete or impending pathologic fractures of long bones.
Methods:
We retrospectively evaluated the results of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) carried out after 68 orthopedic stabilization procedures (femur, n = 55, 80.8%; humerus, n = 13, 19.2%) for actual or impending pathological fracture of long bone in 61 patients with skeletal metastases. The mean normalized total dose was 34.7 ± 7.8 Gy. Endpoints were patient's functional status (FS; 1 = normal pain free status; 2 = normal use with pain; 3 = significantly limited used; 4 = nonfunctional status), a need for a secondary procedure to the same site and overall survival following surgery.
Results:
Overall, 75% of patients achieved normal functional status (FS 1-2) within 12 weeks after surgery. Functional recovery in surviving patients reached 93%. Median survival was 17 months (95% confidence interval 13.7-20.2). Secondary surgical intervention at the same location was necessary in 3 patients (4.4%). On multivariate analysis, only general status (p = 0.011) and growing potential of primary tumor (p = 0.049) were associated with achieving normal functional status within 12 weeks after surgery and radiotherapy. The applied radiation schemes demonstrated a comparable impact on functional recovery.
Conclusions:
Our results confirm the effectiveness of stabilizing surgery and fractionated postoperative radiotherapy in terms of functional recovery, supporting prior results assessing postsurgical radiotherapy versus follow-up. The patient's general status is a strong prognostic factor for functional recovery. Rapidly growing tumors may hinder achievement of a normal functional status.
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