[Palliative surgical therapy of pathologic fractures].

From 1971 through 1985, 97 patients with pathological fractures were operated at the Giessen University Hospital for Accident Surgery. The palliative operations were intended to relief pain, to prevent long periods of bed rest for the patients, to restore the loading capacity of the lower extremity as well as the mobility of the upper extremity. The preservation or restoration of the patients general mobility in everyday life and the psychological aid for the patients had to be considered as well. In case of primary tumors, pathological fractures as a result of formation of metastases are most frequently induced by mammary carcinomas, followed by bronchial carcinomas, hypernephromas, colon carcinomas, and plasmocytomas. The preferential sites of metastases are the proximal femur area, the femur shaft, the humerus, and the pelvis. In our palliative operations, we applied 43 compound osteosyntheses, 23 endoprostheses, 17 resections, 10 marrow nailings, 4 Ender nailings or multiple bone nailings, respectively. One patient underwent a stabilization of the femur neck by means of a strap nail and another patient a stabilization of the spine by spondylodesis. Excisions were performed in 7 cases. The average survival was between 24 and 52 weeks.