Intralesional excision compared with en bloc resection for giant-cell tumors of bone.

We reviewed the results for forty consecutively seen patients, each of whom had been managed by one surgeon for a giant-cell tumor of bone in an extremity between 1976 and 1990. Twenty patients had been managed with an en bloc resection and twenty, with an intralesional excision of the tumor with adjunctive local insertion of methylmethacrylate or phenol. All patients had been followed for a minimum of two years. Both en bloc resection and intralesional excision were found to be excellent oncological procedures. There were fewer complications and better functional results after the intralesional procedure than following the en bloc resection.