Pubic Bone Excision and Perineal Urethrectomy for Radical Anterior Compartment Excision During Pelvic Exenteration

BACKGROUND:Malignant infiltration of the pubic bone traditionally is considered inoperable. Consequently, there is little published on surgical approaches to resection of the anterior pelvic bone. En bloc partial or complete pubic bone excision can be performed depending on the degree of involvement. OBJECTIVE:This article describes our surgical approach of pelvic exenteration with en bloc composite pubic bone excision. DESIGN:The surgical technique describes 2 distinct aspects of the surgery, first, a perineal as opposed to abdominal transection of the urethra, and, second, varying extents of en bloc pubic bone excision. SETTINGS:This study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Pelvic tumors infiltrating the pubic bone require radical en bloc composite bone resection to achieve an R0 margin that should translate to longer-term survival versus nonoperative treatments. RESULTS:Results of our study are currently under review. CONCLUSIONS:As the magnitude of pelvic exenteration surgery continues to evolve for all compartments of the pelvis, malignant infiltration of the anterior pelvic bone should not be considered a contraindication to surgery.