[Interdisciplinary management of thoracic wall tumors: indication, technique, and results of interscapulothoracic...

Interscapulothoracic amputation of the upper extremity, described for the first time by Berger in 1887, has undergone a change of indication. Originally performed in traumatic injuries of the shoulder or arm, it has been done in radical resection of malignancies of the upper extremity, axilla, or the surrounding thoracic wall. Particularly it is performed in tumors which cannot be controlled by neoadjuvant therapies or locally by radiation. The indication, technique, and results of such amputation are discussed by presenting our patients operated on with the procedure. Although this treatment is combined with a loss of function and body integrity, it is safe and sufficiently radical. The loss of function and integrity may be compensated by prosthetic reconstitution.