# Limb-salvage surgery and endoprosthetic reconstruction

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/limb-salvage-surgery/  
OnCo record `limb-salvage-surgery` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Removing a bone or soft-tissue sarcoma while keeping the arm or leg, rebuilding with metal implants, bone grafts or growing prostheses in children.

## Summary

Since the 1980s, >90% of extremity sarcomas are treated with limb-sparing resection plus radiotherapy (soft tissue) or chemotherapy (bone) with survival equal to amputation. Modular and expandable endoprostheses, allografts, rotationplasty, 3D-printed custom implants, and navigation-guided resection are current practice. Function and infection rates are the trade-offs.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: standard-of-care
- Last checked: 2026-09-07
- Principle: Wide en-bloc resection with negative margins, reconstruction, and multimodal adjuvant therapy replace amputation.
- Since: 1980
- Strengths: Preserves function without compromising survival; Custom implants for pelvis and spine
- Limitations: Implant infection and mechanical failure over decades; Requires specialist sarcoma centres

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limb-sparing_techniques
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limb-sparing_techniques

## Connected records

- cancers: [Alveolar soft part sarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/alveolar-soft-part-sarcoma/), [Chondrosarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/chondrosarcoma/), [Desmoid tumour](https://onco.cc/cancers/desmoid-tumour/), [Epithelioid haemangioendothelioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/epithelioid-haemangioendothelioma/), [Epithelioid sarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/epithelioid-sarcoma/), [Ewing sarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/ewing-sarcoma/), [Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT)](https://onco.cc/cancers/inflammatory-myofibroblastic-tumour/), [Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (MPNST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/malignant-peripheral-nerve-sheath-tumour/), [Myxofibrosarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/myxofibrosarcoma/), [Osteosarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/osteosarcoma/), [Perivascular epithelioid cell tumour (PEComa)](https://onco.cc/cancers/pecoma/), [Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/sarcoma/), [Soft tissue sarcoma of the extremity (localised and advanced)](https://onco.cc/cancers/extremity-soft-tissue-sarcoma/), [Tenosynovial giant cell tumour (TGCT)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tenosynovial-giant-cell-tumour/), [Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS)](https://onco.cc/cancers/undifferentiated-pleomorphic-sarcoma/)
- fronts: [Surgery & Interventional](https://onco.cc/fronts/surgery/)
- technologies: [IMRT / IGRT (modern external beam)](https://onco.cc/technologies/imrt-igrt/), [Isolated limb perfusion and infusion](https://onco.cc/technologies/isolated-limb-perfusion/), [Limb salvage, amputation, and the rehabilitation that follows either](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-recon-limb/), [Robotic & minimally invasive surgery](https://onco.cc/technologies/robotic-surgery/)
- trials: [EURAMOS-1](https://onco.cc/trials/euramos-1/)
- bottlenecks: [Rare and paediatric cancers without markets](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-rare-cancers/)
- terms: [Limb-salvage surgery](https://onco.cc/terms/limb-salvage-term/)
- roadmaps: [Surgery roadmap: radical operations → less surgery → no surgery when a drug has done the work](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/surgery-roadmap/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/limb-salvage-surgery.json