Hemicorporectomy.

Translumbar amputation (hemicorporectomy) was first successfully performed in 1961 after cadaver feasibility dissections. It is useful for certain slow-growing malignancies of the pelvis and perineum and for patients with advanced sepsis involving pelvic bony structures. As indicated by our 20-year experience, the operation may be rewarded by control of a malignant process (two patients) and/or relief from chronic pelvic sepsis (four patients), survival and discharge from the hospital after lengthy rehabilitation (six patients).