Expandable endoprosthesis for limb-sparing surgery in children: long-term results.

Purpose: Most children today with bone sarcomas undergo limb-sparing surgery. When treating children younger than 12 years of age, the result is significant limb length discrepancy (LLD). One of the solutions is the use of an expandable endoprosthesis.

Subanaesthetic ketamine spares postoperative morphine and controls pain better than standard morphine does alone in orthopaedic-oncological patients.

Background: Postoperative pain in patients with bone and soft tissue cancer is different from that of other surgical patients due to the severity of the pain generated during surgery and because many of them have already been in pain preoperatively. The search for optimal intravenous pharmacologic management for this population is an ongoing one. We conducted a 10-month prospective, randomised, double blind study to compare the effects of a standard morphine dose to a 35%-lower dose plus a subanaesthetic dose of ketamine for postoperative pain control in patients undergoing bone and soft tissue cancer surgery under standardised general anaesthesia.

Secondary reconstruction of the extensor mechanism using part of the quadriceps tendon, patellar retinaculum, and Gore-Tex strips after proximal tibial resection.

Competence of the extensor mechanism is the major determinant of functional outcome of patients after proximal tibia resection. A method of secondary reconstruction of the extensor mechanism using the middle third of the quadriceps tendon and the patellar retinaculum augmented with Gore-Tex strips and gastrocnemius flap is described. Between 1981 and 1997, 7 patients with extension lag greater than 20 degrees at least 1 year after the initial surgery underwent secondary reconstruction of the extensor mechanism.

Dextromethorphan-associated epidural patient-controlled analgesia provides better pain- and analgesics-sparing effects than dextromethorphan-associated intravenous patient-controlled analgesia after bone-malignancy resection: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded study.

Unlabelled: Pain after bone malignancy surgery is intense and requires large amounts of analgesics. The augmented antinociceptive effects of dextromethorphan (DM), a N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, were demonstrated previously. We assessed the use of postoperative patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) or IV patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) in patients undergoing surgery for bone malignancy under standardized combined general and epidural anesthesia with or without DM.

Role of adjuvant cryosurgery in intralesional treatment of sacral tumors.

Background: Cryosurgery is an adjuvant surgical technique for the treatment of benign aggressive, low-grade malignant and metastatic tumors of long bones. It has been used rarely to treat sacral tumors, mainly because of potential damage to nerves, blood vessels, and intrapelvic organs. The authors described their experience with this procedure and provided medium and long-term follow-up results.

Preoperative and postoperative dextromethorphan provides sustained reduction in postoperative pain and patient-controlled epidural analgesia requirement: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study in lower-body bone malignancy-operated patients.

Background: Pain is mediated centrally by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. The antinociceptive effects of preincision dextromethorphan (DM), an NMDA antagonist, have been demonstrated in surgical patients under general or epidural anesthesia. The authors investigated the effects of DM on postoperative pain and other parameters in patients undergoing surgery for bone malignancy under standardized combined general and epidural anesthesia using patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) postoperatively.

Dextromethorphan for the reduction of immediate and late postoperative pain and morphine consumption in orthopedic oncology patients: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

Background: Postoperative pain is mediated centrally by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. The beneficial effects of preincision oral dextromethorphan (DM), which is an NMDA antagonist, on postoperative pain and intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) morphine (MO) consumption have been examined in patients undergoing surgery. The authors investigated 75 patients who underwent surgery for bone and soft tissue malignancies, in whom postoperative pain is more severe compared with patients who undergo general surgery.