As noted by the authors of this text, there are many variations in the surgery of soft-tissue sarcomas, some much more conservative than others. To some degree, this reflects a desire to preserve as much function as possible. Other reasons, however, may be that the principles of compartmental, or radical, soft-part resection are not widely understood and that the techniques of such procedures are not given much coverage in most surgical texts.
This manual should help rectify both problems. It is divided into three sections. The first section contains brief, but extensively referenced, reviews of the cause, pathology, natural history, diagnosis, and staging of adult soft-tissue sarcomas. These are accompanied by beautiful color photographs of tumor histology and examples of clinical presentation. The next section develops the rationale for compartmental soft-part resection or amputation and then describes an extensive array of such procedures that can be used for tumors of