الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare tumors occurring most commonly in the lower and upper extremities. The cornerstone of treatment of extremity STS is limb salvage surgical excision combined with adjuvant or neoadjuvant RT. Consequently, postoperative wound complications such as wound dehiscence or infection, hematoma and seroma commonly occur.
The aim of this study was to evaluate postoperative morbidity following limb salvage surgery for extremity defects combined with radiotherapy.
The present work was carried on 2 groups of patients namely retrospective group (57 patients) and prospective group (15 patients).
All patients were presented to multidisciplinary tumor boards prior to resection after completing the necessary investigations. The patients underwent resection and temporary wound closure using Vacuum assisted closure (VAC) techniques. Complete resection status with negative margins had to be confirmed before the reconstructive procedure. After evaluation of the defects, reconstruction was performed using various free flaps.
The endpoint of the study was the occurrence of major wound complications as defined by O’Sullivan et al. as a wound complication treated by any secondary operative intervention or hospital readmission for wound care or prolonged deep wound packing for a period of three months or more. Follow up was performed in the plastic surgery clinic for an average of 20 months for the retrospective group and 6 months for the prospective group.
The wound complications were higher in the retrospective group (42%) than in the prospective group (27%). This could be attributed to the presence of the group of patients who received neoadjuvant RT.