Forequarter amputation for local recurrence of sarcoma after previous amputation through the shoulder in a female patient – A case report

Abstract

Forequarter amputation is a very demolitive surgical procedure that affects the quality of life and it is performed when the tumour involves the proximal end of homerus and the shoulder. We describe here the case of a female patient with a recurrent dedifferentiated liposarcoma of the upper limb already treated with tumour asportation, isolated limb perfusion and upper limb amputation through the shoulder, who returned to our attention for a recurrence of the sarcoma in the stump. We then performed a forequarter amputation in a previous amputated limb. Since the patient underwent numerous surgical procedures, our last surgical approach was a quite challenging one. To our knowledge, it is the first described case of an interscapular-thoracic disarticulation after a previous amputation to the shoulder.

Keywords

• Soft-tissue sarcomas (STSs)
• Major limb amputation
• Forequarter amputation