[Rotationplasty in a schoolboy for osteosarcoma: Prosthesis fitting and update]

The classical treatment of osteosarcoma used to be ablative surgery. After the appearance of adjuvant chemotherapy, survival in these patients increased, and with it, the number of affected school age children with high growth potential. Hence, reconstructive surgeries are currently proposed instead of conventional bone resections due to greater limb preservation and better functional status than those achieved with conventional amputations.

We describe a case of osteosarcoma in a 9-year-old boy with a history of retinoblastoma. The tumour involved the entire length of the left femur. He also had a lung metastasis. Given the incomplete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, we chose bone resection, rotation and fitting of the left lower limb and thoracoscopy to treat the lung injury. A bypass ortoprosthesis was placed for the first 6 weeks, until there was healing, bone consolidation and absence of complications, followed by a definitive orthoprosthesis for the next 4 months. At one year, the patient was able to walk independently with the use of the ortoprosthesis, swimming with a fin adapted to the stump and was had restarted cycling. At the last clinical review, at the age of 13 years, he is disease free and continues to have periodic follow-up visits in our office for adaptations to the prosthesis according to his growth.

This case highlights the various reconstructive options available and the difficulties encountered in the management of these aggressive malignant processes. Rotationplasty is a viable therapeutic option in young patients with osteosarcoma, which allows the child to participate again in premorbid daily and recreational activities.