Primary retroperitoneal sarcomas: common symptoms, common diagnoses, uncommon disease

Primary retroperitoneal sarcomas may present with symptoms and signs that mimic common musculoskeletal disorders of the extremities that are quite remote from the source of the problem. This often misleads the clinician and results in delays in diagnosis. The authors present 6 patients with retroperitoneal sarcoma who had a common or nonspecific orthopaedic condition of the extremity. Delays in diagnosis ranged from 2 to 30 months. No patient survived his or her tumor. Clinicians should be alerted to the possibility of a retroperitoneal tumor that presents primarily or initially with extremity signs and symptoms but with few or no clues of the presence of a localized sarcoma in the retroperitoneal space.