Problems after surgery for soft tissue sarcoma

There is a risk of problems or complications after any operation.

Some complications can happen straight after surgery when you're in hospital. Or you might have problems after you go home.

Possible problems after surgery for soft tissue sarcoma include phantom limb sensation and phantom limb pain. Other risks include infection, blood clots and bleeding. 

Many problems are minor but some can be life threatening. Treating them as soon as possible is important.

Risks after surgery

After any major operation there is a risk of: 

Infection

You are at risk of getting an infection after an operation. This includes a wound, chest or urine infection. You will have antibiotics to reduce the risk of developing an infection after surgery. Tell your doctor or nurse if you have any symptoms of infection. If you have these symptoms when back at home, call your 24 hours advice line.

They include:

  • a change in your temperature – 37.5°C or higher or below 36°C

  • shivering

  • feeling hot and cold

  • feeling generally unwell

  • cough

  • feeling sick

  • swelling or redness around your wound and your wound might feel hot

  • a strong smell or liquid oozing from your wound

  • loss of appetite

Rarely for an infection in your wound, you may need another operation.

Blood clots

Getting up and moving around as soon as possible after your operation helps prevent blood clots. A physiotherapist or nurse might also teach you leg exercises and give you compression stockings to wear while you are in bed.

Your nurse might give you an injection just under the skin to lower the risk of blood clots. After some types of operation, you might carry on having these injections for 4 weeks. Before you go home, your nurse might teach you to do these injections yourself. Or a district nurse might come to your house to do them.

Bleeding

There is a risk that you will bleed after your operation. The team looking after you will monitor you closely for signs of bleeding. The treatment you need depends on what is causing the bleeding and how much blood you lose. You might need a blood transfusion.

Risks after surgery for soft tissue sarcoma

There are some complications that can happen in the first few hours or days after your surgery for soft tissue sarcoma. Your team will keep a close eye on you to look out for these problems. 

Phantom limb sensation

If you had surgery to remove a limb, you might experience phantom limb sensation. Immediately after surgery, it might feel as if the amputated limb is still there. Experiences differ from person to person. You might feel the whole limb or just part of it such as the toes. Sensations vary from feeling like your leg is in an odd position or has the same length and weight as your other leg. 

Phantom limb sensation is common for many people. It happens because the brain is still sending signals to the limb that is no longer there. This will gradually fade. In the first few months after surgery, it can be easy to forget that your limb is no longer there. So you should take extra care before getting up, especially at night or after sitting for a long period.

Phantom limb pain

If you have had an amputation, you may feel pain in an arm or leg which is no longer there. This is called phantom pain. But it is very real, although not everyone has it. The pain can be tingling, burning, itching or cramping.

Doctors are starting to understand how and why phantom pain happens. Phantom sensations can be triggered by many different things. It can differ from person to person. Common triggers are swelling, muscle spasms, temperature changes, emotional changes or changes in the weather. For most people, it settles down in time. But if not, there are ways of helping to control it, including painkillers. Some people might be prescribed pain killers before they have their amputation.

Let your doctor or nurse know if you are having any phantom pain.

Residual limb pain

Residual limb pain is also known as stump pain. This is when you feel a type of pain in the part of the limb which remains after an amputation. It may happen soon after you have surgery, often within the first week. But it may also last after your wound has healed. Residual limb pain usually isn't severe. 

Residual limb pain is different from phantom limb pain, which is pain that seems to come from an amputated limb. But residual limb pain and phantom pain often happen together. 

Tell your doctor or nurse as soon as you feel any pain. There are ways of helping to control it, including painkillers. 

Coping and support after surgery for soft tissue sarcoma

Having an amputation is a lifechanging event. It will take time to adjust emotionally and physically. Talk to your healthcare team if you find it hard to cope. They can offer advice and support.

Your feelings

You might have a number of different feelings when you're told you have cancer.

You may feel a range of powerful emotions at first such as feeling shocked, upset and find it difficult to take in anything else that is being said to you. Other emotions include feeling:

  • numb
  • frightened and uncertain
  • confused
  • angry and resentful
  • guilty
  • sad

You may have some or all of these feelings. Or you might feel totally different. You may feel them a few at a time or altogether, leaving you feeling exhausted.

Everyone reacts in their own way. Sometimes it's hard to take in the fact that you have cancer at all. You need to do what’s right for you to help you cope.

Your surgeon will try to save your limb where appropriate (limb salvage procedure). But there are some people who will require amputation. The loss of a limb can be very difficult to cope with. Some people have emotions of grief and bereavement. It is important to remember that coming to terms with your feelings about having an amputation may need as much attention as the practical changes.

There is no set way of handling your news, but experiencing different feelings is a natural part of coming to terms with having cancer. These feelings are likely to come and go, some may even come up when you are not expecting it.

Changes in how you look

How you look is an important part of your self esteem. It can be very hard to accept sudden changes in your looks that you are not happy with.

It is not unusual for people who have had limb sparing surgery to feel confused and upset for some time after their operation. You may feel worried about how your friends and family see you. You may feel that you are no longer as physically attractive. Going back to work, meeting new people and going for job interviews can all be more of a struggle if you are coping with changes in your appearance. 

The important thing to remember is that the people closest to you will not see you any differently as a person. Try and talk to them, they can help to support you when they know how you feel.

Changes to your appearance might affect how you feel about sex.

Support after having a amputation

It can seem to take a long time before you can move around normally again and this may make you feel very low. It can take many months before you can put a lot of weight comfortably on your false leg. And it may take a while before your limb is completely comfortable. Most people get there within a year of their surgery.

There is help and support available if you need it. Your doctor could arrange counselling for you.

Talking to your friends and relatives about your cancer can help and support you. You might find it easier to talk to someone other than your own friends and family. We have cancer information nurses you can call on freephone 0808 800 4040, from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

  • UK guidelines for the management of soft tissue sarcomas
    A Hayes and others 
    British Journal of Cancer, 2024

  • Devita, Hellman and Rosenberg's Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology (12th edition)
    VT Devita, TS Lawrence and SA Rosenberg
    Wolters Kluwer Health, 2023

  • Soft tissue and visceral sarcomas: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up
    A Gronchi and others
    Annals of Oncology, 2021. Volume 32, Issue 11, Pages 1348-1365

  • Soft tissue and visceral sarcomas: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up
    A Gronchi and others
    Annals of Oncology, 2021. Volume 32, Issue 11, Pages 1348-1365

  • Lower extremity amputation
    UpToDate
    Accessed July 2024

  • Pain after amputation
    MJE Neil
    BJA Education, 2016. Volume 16, Issue 3, Pages 107–112

Last reviewed: 
19 Jul 2024
Next review due: 
19 Jul 2027

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