Resection and reconstruction for bone tumours

For the surgical treatment of tumours in long bones a technique in which the resected bone segment is autoclaved and replaced is described. The results in three patients who had undergone this operation 7 to 11 years previously, one for chondrosarcoma and two for giant cell tumour, are reported. In all three cases sound union has been achieved. The advantages of boiled autografts are the immediate availability and the excellent fit of the graft. In order to avoid the problem of slow union of the autoclaved bone segment rigid fixation with long-term stability, preferably with a Küntscher nail and the use of supplementary fresh autogenous bone, is necessary. Two patients with traumatic bone loss from the femoral shaft treated in a similar way are reported from the literature.