After excision of the hemipelvis through a combined subnatal and
anterior incision preserving the lower extremity, five patients with
periacetabular chondrosarcoma, after a follow-up of three to six years,
were able to walk with no support or with minimum lateral support and had
resumed their preoperative occupations. None had either the instability
that might have been anticipated or incapacitating discomfort from the
neoarthrosis, and there was no evidence of spread or recurrence of tumor in
any of the five patients. The procedure, which has the same basic
indications as a hindquarter amputation, is a rewarding substitute for that
mutilating operation, although the follow-up is too short and the series is
too small to warrant conclusions as to the cure rate.