Use of polymethylmethacrylate in large osseous defects in the foot and ankle following tumor excision.
Foot and ankle surgeons are occasionally confronted with having to fill large defects following excision of osseous lesions. This can prove to be quite challenging to the surgeon in regards to the requirement of large amounts of autogenous, allographic, or synthetic bone graft material. The amount of time spent nonweightbearing postoperatively can be quite prolonged, and the evaluation for tumor recurrence at the graft--host interface is difficult to ascertain. Polymethylmethacrylate has been used extensively in orthopedic surgery for many years in a safe manner for total joint replacement. It has also been used to fill large defects following tumor excision (i.e., giant cell tumor) and as an alternative to bone graft. This article briefly reviews the concepts of using polymethylmethacrylate in this manner and presents the use of polymethylmethacrylate in the treatment of foot and ankle lesions with three case presentations. The authors' purpose for this paper is to simply expand on the current medical literature available regarding the use of polymethylmethacrylate in the foot and ankle and to increase the awareness of foot and ankle surgeons regarding its use as a treatment alternative. A follow-up to this article is planned to present a larger patient population, longer term follow-up, and outcomes data.