Evaluation of the Risk of Pathologic Fractures Secondary to Metastatic Bone Disease

Description: Pathologic fractures create a serious morbidity in patients with metastatic bone disease. Orthopedic surgeons who treat patients with metastatic skeletal lesions should focus on proactive treatments designed to prevent pathologic fractures before they occur. Prevention of pathologic fractures result in better patient outcome, lower cost, and less difficult operative procedures. For this reason, it is critical to identify both patients and skeletal lesions that are at increased risk of pathologic fracture. The goal of this review is to establish a systematic screening tool and treatment algorithm that orthopedic surgeons can easily apply to their patients in order to optimize the management of metastatic skeletal disease.
Oct 4 , 2001 HD BoneTumor.org