The use of cement in osteoarticular allografts for proximal humeral bone tumors

In a proximal humerus resection for a bone tumor, the use of an osteoarticular allograft is considered the best restoration of shoulder function. We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of 31 patients who had an intraarticular resection of the proximal humerus for a bone tumor. Twenty-three of the allografts were filled with cement. The average followup was 5.3 years. Of the 31 patients with more than 24 months followup, seven had revision surgery or removal of the allograft. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the probability of survival of the reconstruction was 78% at 5 years. Fracture was the main complication in 11 patients (37%) of whom seven were in the noncemented group. Four of these patients had successful surgery for conversion to an allograft-prosthetic composite, whereas one patient had a new allograft. Allografts that were filled with cement had four fractures (18%); three were subchondral fractures discovered by routine CT scans. None of these patients had pain or needed revision surgery. Osteochondral allograft in proximal humerus replacement is a reliable reconstructive technique if the allograft is augmented by filling the intramedullary space with cement. Moreover, cement augmented allografts are less expensive and technically easier than allograft-prosthetic composites.