Purpose: As the importance of the patient’s perspective on treatment outcome is becoming increasingly clear, the availability of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) has grown accordingly. There remains insufficient information regarding the quality of PROMs in patients with soft-tissue sarcomas (STSs). The objectives of this systematic review were (1) to identify all PROMs used in STS patients and (2) to critically appraise the methodological quality of these PROMs. Methods: Literature searches were performed in MEDLINE and Embase on April 22, 2024. PROMs were identified by including all studies that evaluate (an aspect of) health-related quality of life in STS patients by using a PROM. Second, studies that assessed measurement properties of the PROMs utilized in STS patients were included. Quality of PROMs was evaluated by performing a COSMIN analysis. Results: In 59 studies, 39 PROMs were identified, with the Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) being the most frequently utilized. Three studies evaluated methodological quality of PROMs in the STS population. Measurement properties of the TESS, Quick Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH) and European Organization for Research and Treatment for Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30) were reported. None of the PROMs utilized in the STS population can be recommended for use based on the current evidence and COSMIN analysis. Conclusion: To ensure collection of reliable outcomes, PROMs require methodological evaluation prior to utilization in the STS population. Research should prioritize on determining relevant content and subsequently selecting the most suitable PROM for assessment.

Sarcomas are commonly managed by surgical resection combined with radiotherapy. Sarcoma treatment is frequently complicated by chronic wounds and late radiation tissue injury (LRTI). This study aims to gain insight in the use and results of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for radiation-induced complications following sarcoma treatment. All sarcoma patients treated between 2006 and 2017 in one of the five centers of the Institute for Hyperbaric Oxygen in the Netherlands were included for retrospective analysis. Thirty patients were included, 18 (60.0%) patients were treated for chronic wounds and 12 (40.0%) for LRTI. Two patients with chronic wounds were excluded from analysis as HBOT was discontinued within five sessions. In 11 of 16 (68.8%) patients treated for chronic wounds, improved wound healing was seen. Nine of 12 (75.0%) patients treated for LRTI reported a decline in pain. Reduction of fibrosis was seen in five of eight patients (62.5%) treated for LRTI. HBOT is safe and beneficial for treating chronic wounds and LRTI in the sarcoma population. Awaiting further prospective results, we recommend referring to HBOT centers more actively in patients experiencing impaired wound healing or symptoms of delayed radiation-induced tissue injury following multimodality sarcoma treatment.

Understanding short-term morbidity following extremity soft-tissue sarcoma (ESTS) treatment remains complex due to diverse findings and the absence of a standardized wound complication assessment. This retrospective cohort study evaluated short-term morbidity following primary closure, skin grafting, and flap reconstruction. All ESTS patients treated in a sarcoma center in the Netherlands from 1-1-2010 until 1-8-2022 were included. Short-term morbidity, defined as a wound complication following surgery, was assessed by the Toronto Sarcoma Flap Score (TSFS). The TSFS is an ordinal scale, where 0 indicates the absence of complications, while 10 signifies reconstructive failure necessitating amputation. Hospital stay duration and readmission rates were also analyzed. Limb preservation was achieved in 128 (97.7 %) of 131 patients. Wound complications occurred in 43 (44.3 %) of patients with primary closure, 8 (57.1 %) with skin grafting and 16 (80.0 %) with flap reconstruction, p = 0.01. Patients undergoing flap reconstructions had higher TSFSs (6 [IQR 7], versus 0 [IQR 3] for primary closure and 3 [IQR 6] for skin grafting), longer duration of hospital stays (14 [IQR 18] days versus 4 [IQR 3] days for primary closure and 5 [IQR 7] days for skin grafting, p < 0.01) and were more frequently readmitted (40.0 %, versus 17.5 % for primary closure and 21.4 % for skin grafting, p = 0.09). High limb preservation rates were achieved. Reconstructive surgery allows for the closure of extensive soft-tissue defects following ESTS resection, but it adds to surgical complexity. Patients undergoing flap reconstruction seem to be at a higher risk of short-term morbidity.

This feasibility study aims to explore the use of three-dimensional virtual surgical planning to preoperatively determine the need for reconstructive surgery following resection of an extremity soft-tissue sarcoma. As flap reconstruction is performed more often in advanced disease, we hypothesized that tumor volume would be larger in the group of patients that had undergone flap reconstruction. All patients that were treated by surgical resection for an extremity soft-tissue sarcoma between 1 January 2016 and 1 October 2019 in the University Medical Center Groningen were included retrospectively. Three-dimensional models were created using the diagnostic magnetic resonance scan. Tumor volume was calculated for all patients. Three-dimensional tumor volume was 107.8 (349.1) mL in the group of patients that had undergone primary closure and 29.4 (47.4) mL in the group of patients in which a flap reconstruction was performed, p = 0.004. Three-dimensional tumor volume was 76.1 (295.3) mL in the group of patients with a complication following ESTS treatment, versus 57.0 (132.4) mL in patients with an uncomplicated course following ESTS treatment, p = 0.311. Patients who had undergone flap reconstruction had smaller tumor volumes compared to those in the group of patients treated by primary closure. Furthermore, a larger tumor volume did not result in complications for patients undergoing ESTS treatment. Therefore, tumor volume does not seem to influence the need for reconstruction. Despite the capability of three-dimensional virtual surgical planning to measure tumor volume, we do not recommend its utilization in the multidisciplinary extremity soft-tissue sarcoma treatment, considering the findings of the study.

With great interest we read the article of Flott et al 1 describing the challenges of using patient-reported feedback. We recognise the challenges described and performed a bachelor project in the intensive care unit (ICU) in the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). We think the results from our project provide a potential promising practical solution to make feedback more useful. In 2013 the UMCG participated in an independent multicentre study conducted among relatives of ICU patients.2 In the open questions of the questionnaire, more dissatisfaction than expected was found, which fuelled the quest for an alternative, simple and continuous feedback system. In this study we compared the quality and amount of feedback gathered by an oral survey during the first 2 weeks and an app during the consecutive 2 weeks. Between 20 February …