Results from Clinical and Radiological Follow-up, after Surgical Treatment of Chondroblastoma

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the long-term clinical and radiological results from patients who underwent surgical treatment of chondroblastoma, between 2003 and 2009, by the same surgical team, using the same operative technique. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted on 12 patients with histological diagnoses of chondroblastoma, who were attended between 2003 and 2009 at the Pius XII Foundation (Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, State of São Paulo). These patients underwent surgical treatment with intralesional resection of the tumor, adjuvant electrocauterization and replacement with methyl methacrylate (11 cases) or an autologous graft from the iliac crest (one case). The preoperative evaluation included physical examination, plain radiographs of the site, magnetic resonance imaging, computed axial tomography and bone scintigraphy. The patients were assessed clinically and radiologically according to a predefined protocol, with a series of plain radiographs, and a functional assessment in accordance with the Enneking functional score. RESULTS The average age at the time of diagnosis was 14 years and 4 months. The most frequent location affected was the distal femoral epiphysis (75%), followed by the proximal tibial epiphysis (16.6%) and the calcaneus (8.4%). There was higher prevalence among the female patients than among the male patients (3:1). In three cases, preoperative biopsy was necessary. During the follow-up, there was no evidence of local tumor recurrence, and all the patients presented an excellent functional result from the surgical technique used, with Enneking scores ranging from 20 to 30. CONCLUSION Surgical treatment of chondroblastoma, using intralesional resection, adjuvant electrocauterization and replacement with methyl methacrylate or bone graft produced good results.