Table 3.

Principles of surgery in extremity soft tissue sarcoma

Core biopsy should be done in line with the planned surgical incision and then excised at the time of definitive resection Plan for 1-cm margin except for the infiltrative subtypes (myxofibrosarcoma and DFSP), which require a 2-cm margin. Superficial sarcomas should be excised with the underlying fascia. For deep/intramuscular tumors, the fascia between muscle bodies or compartments provides a good barrier to tumor extension and should be resected with the specimen. Skeletonize vessels and motor nerves unless encased by high-grade sarcoma. Low-grade tumors can be bivalved around critical structures to minimize morbidity