The Significance of Rectus Femoris for the Favorable Functional Outcome After Total Femur Replacement

BACKGROUND In treatment of tumors, we usually reconstruct after resection of the entire femur using only metallic modular endoprostheses among many procedures and defined it as a total femur replacement. We studied the interrelation between the preservation of rectus femoris and the functional outcome after total femur replacement. METHODS We rated the functional outcomes of 21 patients who underwent total femur replacement. We categorized the subjects into 2 groups: group A (rectus femoris preserved) and group B (rectus femoris unpreserved). We examined them based on the Mann-Whitney U test between the 2 groups in average through the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society functional scores. RESULTS The average score of group A was 20 of 25 (11-25; 80%), whereas the average score of group B was 10 of 25 (4-13; 40%). There was significant difference between the groups (P = 0.00168877). CONCLUSION We found that the preservation of rectus femoris is imperative for achieving the favorable functional outcome in total femur replacement.