[Surgical treatment of bone tumors in children]

In the treatment of high grade malignant tumours of the extremities limb-preserving surgery plays an increasing role. This kind of surgery may pose special problems for children, when one or two epiphyses must be sacrificed. Especially when one performs this kind of operation in a very young child, an unacceptable leg length discrepancy may arise at the end of growth. In this article the different possibilities of reconstruction after resection of a bone tumour and the consequences for growth, are discussed. Special attention is drawn to the role of the rotation plasty in comparison to other forms of reconstruction after resection of a tumour around the knee.