Therapeutic validity and effectiveness of exercise interventions after lower limb-salvage surgery for sarcoma: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: An increasing number of patients are surviving sarcoma after lower limb-salvage surgery (LSS) and are left with functional limitations. This systematic review aimed to determine the therapeutic validity and effectiveness of exercise interventions after lower limb-salvage surgery (LSS) for sarcoma. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted using formal narrative synthesis of intervention studies (with and without control group) identified through PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and PEDro databases. Studies were included if participants were treated with LSS for unilateral lower limb sarcoma and followed an exercise intervention using active exercise, physical training, or rehabilitation before and/or after surgery. This review’s outcome measures were interventions’ therapeutic validity, assessed using the CONTENT scale (0 to 9); methodological quality, identified using the Downs & Black checklist (0 to 28); interventions’ effectiveness, assessed based on differences in outcome measures between intervention and control groups; and certainty of evidence, classified according to the GRADE approach. RESULTS: Seven studies involving 214 participants were included. None of the included interventions were therapeutically valid (median 5, range 1–5). All but one study were of at least fair methodological quality (median 18, range 14–21). There was very low-quality evidence that exercise interventions resulted in increased knee range of motion (MD 10–15°) or compliance (MD 30%), and reduced functionality scores (MD -5%) compared to usual care. CONCLUSIONS: We found overall low therapeutic validity of interventions, performed in overall low-quality studies. Combined with the very low certainty of evidence, the results prevent drawing valid conclusions on the interventions’ effectiveness. Future studies should aim for uniformity among their methodological approaches and outcome measures, using the CONTENT scale as a template to avert insufficient reporting. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42021244635. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12891-023-06315-y.