Kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty for the treatment of spinal metastases.

Advances in the detection and treatment of many cancers have led to prolonged life and improved quality of life for patients with localized and metastatic cancer; however, the improved survival of patients with osseous lesions, coupled with the destructive nature of metastatic disease and the medications to treat these lesions, has increased the likelihood of vertebral body collapse. Conventional surgical techniques are often poorly tolerated by this patient population, whereas nonoperative management can lead to continued pain and diminished function in the terminal years of life. Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are minimally invasive vertebral augmentation techniques used to treat pain in such patients while maintaining a positive safety profile.

Periprosthetic supracondylar femur fractures following total knee arthroplasty.

Periprosthetic supracondylar femur fractures following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are an infrequent, but devastating, complication. From 1998 to 2000, we treated 30 supracondylar femur fractures above TKAs. Eighteen fractures were managed with retrograde intramedullary rod fixation (FIMR) and the other 12 fractures with traditional open reduction with internal fixation (ORIF).