Evaluation of the lymph flow with lymphoscintigraphy after rotationplasty for the treatment of bone tumors.

We studied the cases of eleven patients in whom a rotationplasty had been done after wide resection of the distal part of the femur. All patients had had a malignant tumor of bone, but none had the complication of edema or leakage of lymph after the rotationplasty. We made lymphoscintiscans soon after the operation in four patients and weeks or months later in all eleven patients. There was a delay in the flow of lymph in three of the four patients who were examined lymphoscintigraphically soon after the operation and there was obstruction of flow in the fourth patient, but there was evidence of a decreased rate of flow in only two of the eleven patients at the time of the later examination.