Pretibial Full Thickness Skin Burn following Indirect Contact from Bone-Cement Use in a Giant Cell Tumour

Bone cement reaches significant temperatures and is known to cause thermal and chemical damage to various tissues. All the reports of such damage occurred following a direct contact of the tissue or structure with cement. We report the case of a patient with a giant cell tumour of the proximal tibia who underwent curettage and bone cement application through a posterior approach and subsequently developed full thickness pretibial skin damage despite showing no evidence of any direct contact of the involved skin with bone cement. This is the first report of its kind and though anecdotal is a serious complication that surgeons should be aware of.