Timothy W.R. Briggs
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital
The aim of the bone tumour surgeon is to improve thesurvival of the patient. To achieve this, a segment ofbone has to be removed and often surrounding softtissues associated with the tumour are also sacrificedaiming to achieve complete clearance of the tumour. Theaddition of adjuvant chemotherapy has greatly improvedthe outcome of this technique. The second goal is topreserve limb function.If limb salvage will not achieve tumour clearance thenamputation should be undertaken. Survivorship andlocal recurrence rates in patients with osteosarcomaare similar for amputation and limb salvage.This talk will provide a concise overview of surgicalmanagement of bone tumours in the U.K. Limb salvage maybe undertaken by endoprosthetic replacement, massivebone replacement or other alternatives and theindications, surgical techniques and postoperativeresults and follow up will be discussed.Particular reference will be made to the surgicalmanagement of massive pelvic musculoskeletal tumoursand the non-invasive grower for use in limb salvagesurgery in children, which had been designed anddeveloped at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital inthe U.K.
