Spontaneous healing of a 14 cm diaphyseal cortical defect of the tibia

Periosteal preservation: a new technique in resection of bone high-grade malignant tumors in children-about eleven cases

Objective

The purpose of this study was to describe a surgical technique of bone resection with periosteal preservation and reconstruction in patients with high-grade bone malignant tumors and to determine its effect on local recurrences, and time and quality of bone union in bone autografting reconstruction.

Patients and methods

We retrospectively reviewed 11 cases of high-grade malignant bone tumors in children aged 4 to 16 years, who were treated with chemotherapy and tumor resection while preserving partially the adjacent periosteum. Tumors were located in the lower limb in eight cases; three tumors were in the humerus. The mean length of the bone defect after resection was 15.8 cm (range, 6–34.5 cm). Reconstruction was provided by non-vascularized autograft in eight cases (lower limb) and polymethyl methacrylate spacer in three cases (upper limb). Patients were followed up for a mean of 71 months.

Results

At the last follow-up, no patients had local recurrence. Three patients were dead because of metastasis. Bone union was good in time and quality in all children who had bone autografting. In cases of PMMA reconstruction, there was periosteal bone formation around the spacer. According to the MSTS functional score, patients with lower limb localizations had a mean score of 27.75 points and patients with upper limb localizations had a score of 24/30.

Conclusion

Preservation of the periosteum in bone resection for malignant tumors could be a good adjuvant alternative for bone reconstruction, without increasing the risk of local recurrence. However, patients must be carefully selected.

An unusual case of bone regeneration of a necrotic mandible with pathologic fracture in an elderly hemodialysis patient with medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw: a case report and review of the literature

Background

Bisphosphonates are frequently used for osteoporosis. Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw, a complication of bone-modifying agents, including bisphosphonates or angiogenic inhibitors, can be challenging to treat in elderly patients with numerous preexisting conditions. Achieving good treatment outcomes is especially difficult in patients with pathological fractures accompanied with extraoral fistulae.

Case presentation

We report an unusual case of prominent bone regeneration following palliative surgical treatment in a 72-year-old Japanese female patient undergoing hemodialysis. She previously had severe osteoporosis due to renal osteodystrophy and was receiving antiresorptive intravenous bisphosphonate. Computed tomography revealed a discontinuous left lower mandibular margin with a pathologic fracture and extensive, morphologically irregular sequestrum formation (80 × 35 × 20 mm). The patient was diagnosed with stage III medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw and pathologic mandibular fracture. Immediately before the surgery, the anticoagulant used for dialysis was changed from heparin to nafamostat mesylate to reduce the risk of intraoperative bleeding. Sequestrectomy was performed under general anesthesia. Postoperative infection was not observed, the intraoral and submandibular fistula disappeared, and, surprisingly, prominent spontaneous bone regeneration was observed postoperatively at 6 months. Despite the severe systemic condition of the patient, the conservative surgical approach with sequestrectomy has yielded desirable results for more than 6 years since the surgery.

Conclusions

This rare report of spontaneous bone regeneration in a patient of advanced age and poor general condition is the oldest case of mandibular regeneration ever reported.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13256-021-03206-5.

Biological Facet of Segmental Bone Loss Reconstruction

The management of long bone defects continues to be associated with significant challenges for optimum and timely bone repair. When bone grafting is needed, essential parameters to be addressed include adequate volume, optimum density, and structural capacity as well as potent biological properties. Although the autologous iliac crest bone graft remains the gold standard, its reduced availability and donor site morbidity have made the clinicians to seek for other alternative options. Reamer irrigator aspirator graft with materials used as graft expanders along with inductive molecules and cellular augmentation constitute the current trend for optimum bone regeneration. This article presents the contemporary thinking of the biological facet of segmental bone loss reconstruction.

Self-regeneration of the mandible following hemimandibulectomy for ameloblastoma: a case report and review of literature

Resection of the mandible with immediate or delayed graft reconstruction is widely used in the treatment of ameloblastoma involving a large portion of the mandible. The purpose of reconstruction is mainly to restore the esthetic appearance and mandibular function of the patient. Spontaneous regeneration of the mandible after resection is rarely encountered. This article reports a rare case of spontaneous regeneration of the mandible after hemimandibulectomy for ameloblastoma in a 16-year-old male patient. We discuss the theories pertaining to the mechanism and source of the new bone formation in this case and review the English literature.

Critical-sized defect in the tibia: is it critical? Results from the SPRINT trial

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the SPRINT definition of a "critical-sized defect" (fracture gap at least 1 cm in length and involving over 50% of the cortical diameter) was accurate, to discern which factors predict reoperation in patients with these defects, and to compare the patient-based outcomes of these patients with patients without a critical defect.

DESIGN

Therapeutic Cohort Study.

SETTING

Level 1 and level 2 trauma centers.

PATIENTS

Thirty-seven patients in the SPRINT trial with a critical-sized defect participated. We evaluated these patients for planned and unplanned secondary intervention to gain union. Additionally, we evaluated which other factors predicted the need for reoperation. Finally, the 37 patients with a critical defect were compared with the larger cohort of patients without a defect with respect to demographics, mechanism of injury, fracture characteristics, and patient-based outcome.

INTERVENTION

Revision surgery for tibial nonunion.

RESULTS

Of the 37 patients with a large fracture gap, 7 patients had a planned secondary procedure. Of the remaining 30 patients in whom the attending surgeon adopted a "watch and wait" strategy, 14 patients (47%) never required additional surgery to gain union. Additional surgery to gain union was less likely in patients treated with a reamed nail (P = 0.04) and in female patients (P = 0.04). Patients with a critical-sized defect were more likely to have a high-energy mechanism of injury (P = 0.001), AO-OTA fracture type 42 B or C (P < 0.001), and location involving the middle third of the tibia (P = 0.02). The 12-month SF-36 physical component summary score in patients with a critical-sized defect was 38.2 ± 10.5 (mean ± SD) compared with 43.3 ± 10.7 in those without a critical defect (P = 0.02, difference = 5.2, 95% confidence interval = 0.8-9.6).

CONCLUSIONS

Tibial diaphyseal defects of >1 cm and >50% cortical circumference healed without additional surgery in 47% of cases. This definition of a critical-sized defect is not "critical." However, as compared with the overall cohort of tibial fractures, patients with these bone defects had a higher rate of reoperation and worse patient-based outcomes. Further investigation is required to determine which factors predict union in this challenging fracture to avoid unnecessary secondary surgery.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Prognostic level I. See instructions for authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.