Pelvis Rebuilt Using Amputated Leg in Rare Surgery

In a first of its kind surgery in the United States, doctors from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center conducted a complex surgery by using the amputated leg of a patient to rebuild his pelvis. Ohio resident Mike Prindle suffered from a chondrosarcoma tumor on his pelvis and sacrum which forced the doctors to not only remove the malignant part of his pelvis, but also amputate his leg.

The doctors then used the femur, fibula, and their surrounding blood vessels, muscles, and skin of the amputated leg to conduct a complex surgery which involved two large rods, two smaller ones and 14 screws to provide the support. The surgery has now allowed Prindle to walk about without any help.

While such surgeries have been carried out before, the doctors often use either artificial materials or cadaver bones. Even after the surgery, the patient is confined to wheelchair since the pelvis is not strong enough to carry the weight of the body.

One of the doctors involved in the surgery, Dr Joel Mayerson of Ohio State’s James Cancer Hospital, said, “We knew we were going to take his lower leg and amputate it. But the bones and the blood supply to the lower leg were not involved with the tumor. So we decided to make use of those bones.”



Source-Medindia