Vascular issues in complex surgical resection of chondrosarcoma

Surgical resection of pelvic and lumbar spine chondrosarcomas remains the mainstay of therapy. Such tumors are often large when initially diagnosed and not uncommonly involve adjacent arterial, venous, and other visceral structures. Given this, careful preoperative evaluation by orthopedic, vascular, and general surgery teams is critical to optimizing surgical outcomes. Appropriate preoperative imaging with a combination of plain radiographs along with computer tomography angiograms and magnetic resonance angiograms allows for detailed planning for these complex resections and reconstructions. A variety of different surgical approaches can be made to facilitate safe, complete tumor resection and orthopedic and vascular reconstruction as needed. Postoperative care following these complex reconstructions should also be done in a multidisciplinary fashion to optimize outcomes.