[Surgical treatment concepts in soft tissue tumors of the locomotor system]

Soft tissue tumors of the extremities require a definitive histopathological diagnosis and adequate treatment unless they are known to have been present for years without any clinical change. For lesions with a straightforward clinical diagnosis (ganglion of the wrist) and for superficial tumors smaller than 3 cm, excisional biopsy is adequate. For all other lesions an open incisional biopsy should be performed. If the lesion is potentially malignant, all the appropriate staging studies must be performed before biopsy; if the tumor has been biopsied without prior staging and unexpectedly reveals a malignant lesion, complete staging must be performed before definitive surgery is undertaken. Soft tissue sarcomas extend rapidly within the tissue of the compartment they originated in, but tend to respect compartmental boundaries. Radical resection of the entire compartment containing the sarcoma is thus the surgical treatment of choice. Adjuvant radio- and/or chemotherapy are necessary in the majority of these cases and should be integrated into the treatment strategy.