Salvage of limb salvage in oncological reconstructions of the lower limb with megaprosthesis: how much to push the boundaries?

INTRODUCTION: Megaprosthesis represent the most commonly used limb salvage method after musculoskeletal tumor resections. Nevertheless, they are burdened by high complication rate, requiring several surgical revisions and eventually limb amputation. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of rescuing the limb with subsequent revisions on complication rates (a), incidence of amputations (b), and whether complications reduce functional outcome after the first surgical revision (c). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 444 lower limb megaprosthesis implanted for primary musculoskeletal tumors or metastatic lesions, from February 2000 to November 2017. 59 patients received at least one revision megaprosthesis surgery. MSTS score was used to assess final functional results. Complication-revision-amputation free survival rates were calculated both at 5 and 10 years of follow-up. RESULTS: Complication free survival, revision free survival and amputation free survival at 10 years were 47% and 53%, 61% and 67%, 90% and 86% among all 444 patients and the group of 59 revised patients, respectively. The incidence of further complications after the first complication was 26% in the group treated with no subsequent revision surgeries and 51% in the group with at least one revision surgery. We found a trend of inverse linear relationship between the number of complications needing subsequent revision surgeries and the final MSTS. CONCLUSION: The number of further revision surgeries after limb salvage with megaprosthesis increases the incidence of complications. Repeated surgical revisions, in particular after infection, increase the amputation rate. The most frequent causes of failure were structural failures and infections. MSTS score was superior for patients undergoing limb salvage than amputees. However, MSTS progressively decreased with multiple revisions becoming inferior to the functional score of an amputated patient. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00402-021-04165-8.