Plating after tumor curettage in human femora does not efficiently improve torsional stability ex vivo

This biomechanical study shows that mono- or bicortical plating is not an effective preventive treatment against torsional failure of femora with distal defects as the resulting maximum torque was drastically reduced compared to intact femora. Thus, the initial hypotheses have to be rejected. As habitual loading of the femur includes a combination of axial and torsional loading, the observed lack of prevention against torsional failure might help to explain the occurrence of fractures despite plating. Future research towards ameliorating clinical outcome should address the role of defect filling with bone cement or bone grafts regarding the improvement of torsional stability after primary bone tumor treatment in the femur.