Surgical technique of combined anterior-lateral and lateral approach in the management of bone tumor of femoral neck

Objective To explore surgical procedure of combined anterior-lateral and lateral approach for the treatment of bone tumors of femoral neck. Methods Forty patients with bone tumors of femoral neck treated in Tianjin Hospital were included from July 2005 to August 2009. Of the patients, 12 who were treated with curettage and bone graft through combined anterior-lateral and lateral incision were analyzed in this study. There were 7 males and 5 females with an average age of 34 years ranging from 17 to 68 years. 4 patients were diagnosed as chondroblastoma, 2 giant cell tumor, 3 fibrous dysplasia, and 3 single bone cysts. 7 patients suffered from pathologic fractures, and 5 had presented thin cortical bone because of tumor involvement. There were 1 tumor located in H1 zone, 4 in H2 zone and 7 in H1,2 zone according to ISOLS femoral neck classification. All patients were treated by curettage and bone graft via anterior-lateral approach, 10 cases underwent internal fixation with anatomical plate, and 2 cases with canulated screws with lateral approach. Results The follow-up time ranged from 10 to 68 months with an average of 35 months.Pain disappeared in all patients, and there were not recurrence of tumor, pathologic fractures and avascular necrosis. One case had complained of lateral femoral skin numbness which may be caused by injures of femoral lateral nerves. One case had difficulties in the valgus of hip joint. The mean MSTS score was 29.2 points ranging from 27 to 30 points. Conclusion Anterior approaches of ＂SP＂ incision is helpful to thorough curettage which decrease the risk of recurrence due to good visualization and intemal fixation is easy to perform via lateral approaches. The result suggested that combined anterior-lateral ＂SP＂ and lateral incision is liable option in treatment of bone tumors of femoral neck. Key words: Neoplasms;  Femur neck;  Fractures, spontaneous