Indications for the treatment of pathologic fracture in tumors of bone

Pathologic fractures in tumors and tumor-like lesions of bone are a rare occurrence. It is for this reason that excessive treatment of benign tumors, erroneous treatment of malignant ones, or abstention from any form of therapy in metastatic forms are often observed. The authors report the main indications for treatment in different types of neoplasms in an attempt to classify therapeutic behavior in relation to histotype and preoperative staging. Furthermore, the most common errors in treatment are defined, and the principal mechanisms of consolidation of pathologic fracture, and epidemiologic features of the different types of fracture are revealed.