We reviewed 20 patients after forequarter amputation performed for high-grade malignant tumours of the shoulder girdle (Enneking grades IIB to III). The operations were classified as palliative or curative according to the resection margins and the presence of disseminated disease at the time of the surgery.

There were five palliative and 15 curative procedures. Two patients died from unrelated causes, septicaemia and suicide. Eight died in the first two years, four of whom had had a palliative operation. Four died between two and five years after surgery, one after a palliative operation. Five patients are alive, at a mean of 89.4 months after surgery, four of whom are free from disease. The median survival after a palliative amputation was 20.6 months. Our overall five-year survival (palliative and curative cases) was 21.2%, for curative cases it was 30.2%. None of the patients use an artificial prosthesis.

Despite the disfigurement which results from this operation, it still has a useful role to play in the management of high-grade malignant tumours of the upper limb.