One-Stage Surgical Resection and Functional Reconstruction for Upper Limb Soft Tissue Sarcoma.

Background: Currently, the gold standard of treatment for extremity soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is limb-sparing surgery. When the upper extremity is involved, the functional outcome is frequently poor. A 1-step resection and functional reconstruction would be advisable to obtain a fast recovery. Our study aims at retrospectively analyzing our case series of immediate nerves and tendons reconstructions of the upper limb after STS resection, while combining a review of the literature.

Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on a consecutive series of patients who underwent an immediate functional reconstruction after STS resection of the upper limb between 2015 and 2022 among the IRCCS Foundation "Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori." The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score was considered the primary outcome. The obtained DASH scores were compared through groups that underwent different reconstructive procedures. The literature review was conducted according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis) criteria among 3 databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane) using the search parameters "(((upper extremity) OR (upper limb)) AND (functional reconstruction) AND (soft tissue sarcoma)."

Results: Between 2015 and 2022, 52 patients required a functional reconstruction. The mean follow-up time was 49.63 months. The DASH score analysis reported a mean value of 44.1 ± 26.7. A statistically significant difference was found between groups who underwent different reconstruction techniques, whereas no difference was found regarding exposure to neoadjuvant radiation therapy. The literature review reported few articles focusing on immediate functional reconstruction after STS resection, and only 6 articles were included in the review.

Conclusions: Our review aimed at reporting our case series of immediate functional reconstructions after STS of the upper extremity, which is currently the most substantial one reported in literature to set an effective baseline for further studies in the field.