Vol. 5, Issue 1, Part A (2023)

Introduction: In the surgical treatment of malignant musculoskeletal tumours, limb sparing surgery and rarely amputation are preferred. In this study, we evaluated our patients who had undergone amputation after limb-salvage surgery or who had undergone primary amputation after diagnosis in our clinic.
Methods: In this study, a total of 18 patients who had undergone amputation due to complications after extremity-sparing surgeries performed due to primary bone, soft tissue sarcoma/carcinoma or benign aggressive bone and soft tissue tumour or who had direct amputation after the first diagnosis between the years 2015-2021 were evaluated retrospectively.
Results: A total of 18 patients (8 men, 10 women) underwent amputation in our clinic between 2015-2021; Twelve of them underwent secondary amputation after limb-sparing surgery (LSS). And primary amputation was performed in 6 patients after diagnosis. The mean age of the patients was 46.8 years. A total of 10 patients died in the post-amputation period. It was also observed that survival duration of the remaining 8 patients who had been still alive after amputation was 16,3 months (min/max: 6 months-36 months).
Conclusion: Today, limb salvage surgery has become the standard in malignant bone and soft tissue tumours of the extremities and the need for amputation is decreasing. Early referral of patients to reference centers and compliance with the necessary surgical rules in limb-sparing surgery can reduce the need for amputation and increase the success rate of limb salvage surgery.