Background The current trend is toward salvage of the extremity after tumor excision without compromising the extent of resection for bone tumor around the shoulders. Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate functional outcome of patients treated with limb-salvage surgeries combined with shoulder abduction braces. Methods Thirty-six patients with bone tumors around the shoulders, who had limb-sparing resection and reconstruction performed with a shoulder abduction brace, were retrospectively reviewed. Allograft transplantation and rigid internal fixation was performed in 22 patients and artificial prosthetic replacement was performed in 14 patients. Functional evaluation was performed based on the Musculoskeletal Tumour Society (MSTS) scoring system. Results The overall survival was 78.8% (26/33) at 2 years. The mean final functional score was (81.2 +/- 19.6%). The MSTS of patients treated by allograft transplantation and prosthetic replacement were (79.4 +/- 15.3%) and (81.9 +/- 18.1%), respectively. The MSTS scores differed only slightly between these two groups (0.05). All the patients regained good ROM of the shoulder joints. Conclusions Satisfactory functional outcomes can be obtained by limb-salvage surgery for bone tumor around the shoulder. Postoperatively shoulder crutches with shoulder abduction brace are encouraged as the aid of reconstruction of shoulder joint function. J. Surg. Oncol 2014; 109:714-720. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.