Inadvertent tumor violation during musculoskeletal sarcoma surgery and risk of recurrence

During the limb preserving procedure for musculoskeletal sarcoma, the course of action that should be taken when a tumor or tumor-cell-contaminated adjacent tissue is violated remains controversial. From January, 1973, to July, 1989, 120 patients with musculoskeletal sarcoma were treated by limb salvage surgery and, in 40 of them, such violations inadvertently occurred during surgery. Follow-up studies on the patients have been conducted for at least one year after the violation. Soft tissue sarcoma was noted in 24 cases (low grade, 4; high grade, 20) and bone sarcoma in 16 (low grade, 6; high grade, 10). To treat the violation, re-excision with a clean margin and copious lavage was generally conducted after careful closure of the violated site. Sixteen cases in the soft tissue sarcoma group and eight in the bone sarcoma group were treated in this way. Local recurrences were found in 13 of the 40 cases (33%), but the percentage was reduced to 13 in cases treated by re-excision with a clean margin. In the present study, there was no significant effect of adjuvant therapy after violation. The survival rate in cases of local recurrence was very low, and not at all improved by adjuvant therapy.