Long-Term Outcomes of Rotationplasty patients in the treatment of lower extremity sarcomas with cost analysis

There are many options for restoration of function in treating lower extremity sarcomas in young children. The trend has moved towards the use of expandable prosthetics for treatment; however, this has been fraught with complications and expense. The aim of this study was to assess long-term functional outcome scores and emotional satisfaction of rotationplasty and megaprosthesis patients compared to the general population.

Surveys querying surviving members of a rotationplasty cohort from our institution were sent out including MSTS, TESS and Rand SF-36 questionnaires. Demographic information, surgical intervention, disease status and length of follow-up were collected.

The average MSTS score of the eight respondents available and who agreed to participate in the study was 65.4%. The average TESS was 90.0%. The results of our eight respondents showed Rand SF-36 results with norm-based scoring averages of 46.4 for physical health and 55.6 for mental health. In this study, the patients who were alive with no evidence of disease averaged greater than eighteen-years of follow-up.

Patients functioned well relative to their peers when in an appropriate prosthesis. Patients were emotionally satisfied with rotationplasty and functioned in-line with the general population physically and mentally.