Functional outcomes of patients with arthrodesis after resection of a shoulder girdle neoplasm are only sparsely reported. Fusion of the shoulder can be done as a primary reconstruction or secondarily for salvage of a failed limb-sparing procedure. We retrospectively reviewed 21 patients at a mean followup of 11 years. In eight patients, arthrodesis was done as the primary reconstruction and in 13 patients as the secondary procedure. There were no local recurrences, and no patient had metastatic disease develop. The overall Toronto extremity salvage and Musculoskeletal Tumor Society scores were 81% (range, 46-97) and 23 points (range, 17-26), respectively. There was no difference with respect to function between patients who had their arthrodesis as a primary or secondary procedure. Eight of 21 patients (43%) had a complication that required major surgical intervention. Shoulder arthrodesis as a limb salvage procedure after tumor resection provides good function independent of whether the procedure is done primarily or secondarily. Because of the high complication rate, future efforts must be directed at surgical methods to decrease such complications.
Level of evidence: Therapeutic study, Level IV (case series--no, or historical control group). See the Guidelines to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.