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Osteonecrosis in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Assessing the safety of surgical intervention

Publish date:: January 13, 2016

Although no standard of care exists for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia-associated osteonecrosis (ALL-associated ON), surgical intervention seems relatively safe. This according to a study of 10,279 patients with ALL, including 242 with ON reported within 5 years of ALL diagnosis. Researchers found:

• 22.7% of patients with ON underwent orthopedic surgical intervention aimed at joint preservation (82%) or replacement (18%) with substantial variation by hospital in both the rate and type of surgical intervention.

• The majority of patients had surgical procedures while receiving maintenance therapy.

• None of the patients undergoing surgical intervention required ICU-level care within 14 days of surgery.

• There was no hospital-associated mortality.

Citation: Heneghan MB, Rheingold SR, Li Y, et al. Treatment of osteonecrosis in children and adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. [Published online ahead of print January 4, 2016]. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk. doi: 10.1016/j.clml.2015.12.009.

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