What to Know About Surgery for Ewing’s Sarcoma

Today doctors often use limb-sparing surgery instead of amputation.

Different types of surgery are used to treat Ewing’s sarcoma. The type of surgery you get depends on where your tumor is located. It also depends on how the surgery will affect the part of your body that is being operated on.

Many tumors that involve soft tissue or certain bones can be removed without harming your movement. Tumors in the main bones in the arms or legs usually can’t be removed without affecting how the arm or leg works.

Doctors used to amputate limbs when they couldn’t just remove the tumor. Today doctors can often use limb-sparing surgery instead of amputation. During this procedure the surgeon replaces a part of your bone. The bone may be replaced with grafts from other bones or with metal or plastic bones and joints, which are called prostheses. Sometimes children with a prosthesis need more than one surgery because their bones are still growing.

Limb-sparing surgery is not always an option. The bone may be hard to replace or surgery may damage the limb. If you can’t have limb-sparing surgery, your doctor may recommend radiation as a better option.