Return to sports following lower limb musculoskeletal tumor surgery-A systematic review

Survivors of primary malignant musculoskeletal tumors often face long-term disability. Clinicians at present are unable to provide evidence-based advice about returning to sports, which is important for active patients.

Identify patients returning to sports. Describe the sporting activities in which patients participate. Identify the outcome measures used to assess return to sport. Identify barriers preventing return to sports.

Systematic review.

A comprehensive search strategy was used to identify relevant studies combining the following concepts: (1) Bone/Soft tissue tumor, (2) Lower limb, (3) Surgical interventions, and (4) Sports. Studies were selected according to eligibility criteria with the consensus of three authors (MTB, FS, and CG).

Twenty-two studies were selected, published between 1985 and 2020, including 1005 patients. Fifteen of the 22 studies had valid data on return to sports, with 705 participants, of which 412 (58.4%) returned to some form of sport such as swimming and cycling, at a mean follow-up period of 7.6 years. Four studies directly compared limb sparing surgery and amputation; none of these were able to identify a difference in sports participation or ability.

There is insufficient published research to provide guidance for patients with respect to return to sports following musculoskeletal tumors. Future prospective studies are needed to collect better pre- and post-treatment data at multiple time intervals. Validated clinical and patient sports participation outcomes such as type of sports, level, frequency, and validated sports-specific outcome scores should be recorded. In particular, more comparison between limb sparing surgery and amputation would be welcome.