[Initial experiences with Winkelmann "clavicula pro humero" operation in malignant bone tumors of the proximal humerus in childhood].

Between 1980 and 1995, 11 children with osteosarcoma were treated at the Clinic of Pediatric Surgery of the Martin-Luther-University, Halle-Wittenberg. In the first years of this period we treated six of the children according to the protocols of the study group "Tumors" of the Society for Pediatric Surgery. At that time the preferred concept was radical surgical resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. For several years we favored the therapeutic regime of the Society for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology and treated five children according to the principles of the cooperative studies of osteosarcoma. With the introduction of aggressive neo-adjuvant chemotherapy it was possible to perform reconstructive limb surgery. We report on our own first experiences with the "Clavicula pro humero", an operation according to Winkelmann for malignant bone tumors of the proximal humerus. This new operative method is described and possible complications are discussed.