Soft tissue sarcoma: functional outcome after wide local excision and radiation therapy

Functional outcome was evaluated in 40 patients with a diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma (STS), who had received wide local surgical excision and postoperative radiation therapy. All patients were two or more years postsurgical excision, and 1.75 or more years postradiation. Patients were separated into three anatomic groups: head, neck, or trunk (HNT); lower extremity (LE); and upper extremity (UE). Each patient was assessed for range of motion, muscle strength, edema, pain, activities of daily living (ADL), and vocational changes. There was significantly more (p = 0.037) edema in patients with LE lesions than in patients in either of the other groups. Patients with LE lesions had greater difficulty with ADL and mobility than those with UE or HNT lesions (p = 0.019), and vocational changes were more frequent (p = 0.055). Patients with lower extremity STS are at higher risk for developing disability than patients with STS at other anatomic sites.