Abstract
BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to compare and evaluate the oncological and functional outcomes of 2 surgical treatments: extended curettage with plate fixation (EC-PF) and extended curettage with intramedullary nail fixation (EC-INF) for primary giant cell tumor (GCT) of the proximal femur. MATERIAL AND METHODS In a retrospective study, we reviewed 19 patients with Campanacci grade II and International Society of Limb Salvage zone H2 GCT of the proximal femur. All patients underwent either EC-PF (n=11) or EC-INF (n=8) surgery. The Mankin scoring system was used to evaluate the surgical effect, and the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score was used to evaluate the limb salvage function of the patients. The between-group differences were analyzed at the end of follow-up. RESULTS During the follow-up period, there were no cases of recurrence or metastasis in both groups, and the EC-INF group had a higher rate of nononcological complications than the EC-PF group (62.5% vs 9.1%, respectively). Bone graft resorption and atrophy was the most frequent nononcological complication in the EC-INF group. According to the Mankin scoring system, the degree of hip joint function recovery in the EC-PF group was higher than that in the EC-INF group (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the EC-PF group had shorter hospital stays and higher Musculoskeletal Tumor Society scores (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Due to the high incidence of nononcological complications associated with intramedullary nailing as a method of internal fixation following extended curettage of the proximal femur GCT, this approach is generally not recommended.