endoprosthetic reconstruction of distal humerus following resection of distal humeral giant cell tumours in six patients in rural india

Giant cell tumour is a commonly occurring benign bone tumour in the Indian population. The common sites of involvement in descending order of frequency are distal femur, proximal tibia, distal radius and proximal humerus. The less commonly occurring sites are distal humerus, pelvis and proximal femur. We present six cases of giant cell tumour involving the distal humerus in rural India. After obtaining a tissue diagnosis by Trucut biopsy and classifying using Enneking's classification, we proceeded to perform wide resection followed by endoprosthetic reconstruction using custom mega prosthesis. We present here six patients (M: F: 2: 4) who were managed by us between 2008-2014. They presented to us with pain around the elbow and restriction in range of movements. They were each noted radiographically to have a lytic lesion involving the distal humerus with the likely diagnosis of giant cell tumour. Closed biopsy was done in all of them to obtain a definitive diagnosis. All patients underwent wide resection and reconstruction using distal humerus custom prosthesis. All patients were followed up at 6, 12, 18 and 24 weeks and thereafter six monthly until the last review. They were assessed using the DASH scoring system. All patients were well with no evidence of recurrence with good to fair functional outcome. We conclude that careful pre-operative planning with meticulous soft tissue dissection and good implant metallurgy and design, these tumours can be treated with good long term functional results.