Forequarter amputation as a life-saving procedure.

Forequarter amputation is performed for high-grade malignant tumours in the proximal part of the upper extremity with palliative or curative intentions. Two cases are included in this report of patients who presented in need of urgent surgical intervention. Both patients had an actively bleeding, ulcerated or fungating mass and were haemodynamically unstable. The purpose of this report is to highlight the importance of emergency surgical intervention for such selected patients.