Commentary
Should the patella be resurfaced in distal femoral replacement after distal femoral resection?
Abstract
In the article published by Etchebehere et al. in Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, April 2016, the authors described a retrospective review of the clinical and radiological outcomes in 108 patients with distal femoral tumour who underwent distal femoral resection and endoprosthetic reconstruction (1). Sixty patients had patellar resurfacing and 48 had not. The mean duration of follow-up was 4.5 years.
Due to its retrospective nature, selection bias is almost unavoidable in the study: the non-resurfacing group was more than 10 years younger than the resurfacing group. Patellar resurfacing rate was significantly higher in one model of prosthesis (Finn, 77%) than the other one (GMRS, 23%). It was also more common in surgery performed through lateral approach (83%) than the medial approach (17%).
Due to its retrospective nature, selection bias is almost unavoidable in the study: the non-resurfacing group was more than 10 years younger than the resurfacing group. Patellar resurfacing rate was significantly higher in one model of prosthesis (Finn, 77%) than the other one (GMRS, 23%). It was also more common in surgery performed through lateral approach (83%) than the medial approach (17%).
