Quality of life after bone sarcoma surgery around the knee: A long‐term follow‐up study

It remains unclear if quality of life (QoL) improvements could be expected in young patients after malignant bone tumour surgery after 2 years. To assess the course of QoL over time during a long‐term follow‐up, malignant bone tumour survivors of a previous short‐term study were included. Assessments were done at least 5 years after surgery. QoL was measured with Short‐form (SF)‐36, TNO‐AZL Questionnaire for Adult's Quality of Life (TAAQOL) and Bone tumour (Bt)‐DUX. QoL throughout the follow‐up was analysed by linear mixed model analysis. From the original cohort of 44 patients; 20 patients were included for this study, 10 males; mean age at surgery 15.1 years and mean follow‐up 7.2 years. Twenty‐one patients of the initial cohort (47%) deceased. Fifteen patients (75%) underwent limb‐salvage and five (25%) ablative surgery. QoL improved significantly during follow‐up at Physical Component Summary Scale scale of the SF‐36 and TAAQOL and all subscales of the Bt‐DUX (p < .01). No significant differences were found between current evaluations and previous evaluations at 2 years after surgery (p = .41–.98). Significant advantages after limb‐salvage were seen at the PCS scale of the SF‐36 (MD 13.7, p = .05) and the cosmetic scale of the Bt‐DUX (MD 17.7, p = .04).