Page 100 - Reconstructive Techniques in Musculoskeletal Tumor Surgery
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Chapter 5
Figure 2. Kaplan-Meier curve for patient follow-up plotted according to localization (n = 87).
Two separate de nitions were applied to assess the union of allograft-host junctions. In the rst de nition, to compare the incidence of nonunion with that in prior series, unions of junctions were determined with use of conventional radiographs, and nonunion was de ned as the lack of continuity in three cortices at the junction one year after surgery. If assessment of union was inconclusive on conventional radiographs, union was assessed with computed tomography (CT). In the second de nition, to analyze risk factors for nonunion, surgical intervention to facilitate union of osseous junctions, at least six months after primary surgery, was de ned as nonunion.
Allografts that were removed or were replaced were de ned as failures. Graft-related failures were considered separately for statistical analysis. The type of osteosynthesis was de ned as bridging if the intramedullary nail or plate osteosynthesis spanned the entire allograft and had a proximal and distal xation zone in una ected bone.
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