Outcomes after Arterial or Venous Reconstructions in Limb Salvage Surgery for Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcoma

BACKGROUND: Limb salvage surgery with vascular reconstruction is currently considered as the standard treatment for extremity soft tissue sarcoma (STS), showing equivalent oncologic outcome compared with amputation. In this retrospective study, the surgical and functional outcomes after arterial or venous reconstruction in limb salvage surgery for STS were analyzed. METHODS: Consecutive patients who underwent vascular resection and reconstruction as part of limb salvage surgery for extremity STS from July 2009 to June 2015 were included in this study. Incidence of surgical complication, graft patency, and patients' functional outcome were reviewed. Among 15 patients with tumors in lower extremity, 13 were ambulatory after limb salvage surgery. During median follow up of 23.3 months (interquartile range 39.9 months), 2 patients (11.7%) needed amputation of the initially salvaged limb due to local recurrence. CONCLUSION: Limb salvage surgery of soft tissue tumor combined with vascular reconstruction showed favorable functional outcome with good local control. Autologous vein conduit is preferred over synthetic graft both in arterial and venous reconstruction.