UC Davis Health Doctors Use Collarbone to Create New Upper Arm for Young Patient

UC Davis Health Doctors Use Collarbone to Create New Upper Arm for Young Patient. A doctor in gloves holds the hands of a young patient to test the strength in the patient's arms and hands.

When nine-year-old Sydney Engle was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her right arm, she and her parents had several options to choose from to prevent the cancer from spreading. Surgical options were challenging because of the extent of Sydney’s disease; due to her young age, she needed an option that would grow with her body.

Faced with the possibility of amputation or taking a bone from her leg to use in her arm, the Engles and their care team at UC Davis Health in Sacramento, Calif. opted for a rare procedure that involved using Sydney’s collarbone to create a new upper arm. The surgery, called clavicula pro humero, involved transposing the clavicle with its blood supply off the central vessels so it can function as the upper arm.

“I believe our team was the first to do this in the United States years ago,” said UC Davis Health pediatric musculoskeletal surgical oncologist and Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery R. Lor Randall, M.D., one of the relatively few physicians who has previously performed the surgery. “I first learned about the procedure in 2005 when I was touring in Africa, where they do not have as many options as we do here. We are now one of the most experienced teams in the world in utilizing this technique.”

To learn more about the successful surgery and how Sydney is doing today, read this UC Davis Health article.