Scar revision for incompletely or narrowly excised soft tissue sarcomas in dogs

Objective Describe clinical features of dogs undergoing scar revision for incompletely or narrowly excised soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) in the absence of gross disease and to determine local recurrence rates following scar revision. Animals Thirty-three dogs with 33 scars. Procedures Medical records were reviewed to collect data on signalment, tumor details, pre-surgical diagnostic tests, surgical and pathologic findings for both the initial and revision surgeries, and clinical outcomes. Descriptive statistics were generated. Results For the initial excision, cytology was performed before surgery in 45.5% (15/33) of dogs, and information on surgical margins was rarely reported [4.0% (1/25) of circumferential and 12.0% (3/25) of deep margins]. Microscopic evidence of residual STS was identified in 18.2% of scars. Recurrence occurred in 3.0% (1/33) of dogs [median follow-up of 1127 d (1 to 3192 d)]; this dog had had no evidence of residual tumor in the scar revision pathology. Conclusions Despite the low identification rate of residual tumor, the local tumor recurrence rate was 3.0%, which is lower than what is historically reported for incompletely or narrowly excised STSs. Clinical relevance Scar revision for incompletely or narrowly excised STSs resulted in durable tumor remission in the dogs of this study. Pre-surgical diagnostic tests were not often performed in this study; these may be considered before the first excision to plan surgical margins for potentially reducing the incidence of incomplete or narrow excision. Surgical reports should include details on circumferential and deep margins to guide pathologic interpretation and future scar revision, if required.