Custom made hemi pelvis for tumour reconstructive surgery (A first in Sydney Australia)

The Patient had a chondrosarcoma removed 13 years ago in Boston USA. Subsequent failure of the acetabular reconstruction necessitated revision with an allograft and reconstruction cage which was used to repair the resultant defect.

The patient will undergo further surgery this month using a custom made acetabular and pelvic reconstruction prosthesis which will be fixed to the bone using bone screws, custom bolts and ortho biological bonding and osteo conductive agents.
The images show the full pelvic scan that allowed us to make a model to scale showing the bone defects. Dr Ian Woodgate (FRACS) of the St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney was able to assist us make an accurate 3D model which was adjusted slightly to more accurately fit the patient’s anatomy, before the actual prosthesis was made.

We (on behalf of Dr. Woodgate and Global Orthopaedic Technology) would like to acknowledge the assistance of the University of New South Wales Bioengineering Laboratory, the Medical Imaging Department of the St Vincent’s hospital, ‘Solid concepts’ from Western Australia and Global Manufacturing Technology from Wollongong NSW.

The images below show the full pelvic scan.

 The surgery is scheduled in two weeks and we hope to display a post operative x-ray on the web-site soon after.

The patient was treated recently using a bulk allograft, ortho biological bone growth compounds, reconstructive pelvic cages and many bone screws (as seen below ). The surgeons chose to leave the existing stem in place and augment it with a ‘bioball’ adaptor from Merete in Germany. This device fits on to the trunion of the old hip and allows the prosthesis to bridge the distance between the stem and the newly reconstructed acetabulum.