Staged reconstruction of a failed modular knee tumor prosthesis

Abstract

Infection is one of the most common causes of the failure of tumor prosthesis. Low-quality soft tissue envelope, chemotherapy, and extensive soft tissue dissection are among the reasons responsible for this devastating complication. Removal of the implant is necessary to deal with the infection, and it is not always possible to reconstruct the joint with a functional implant, due to the poor bone stock or recalcitrant infection. We present a case with infected tumor prosthesis, which was salvaged with knee arthrodesis using two monolateral fixators, and subsequent lengthening of the femur and tibia with monolateral and circular external fixators respectively.