Multimodality management of soft-tissue sarcomas of the extremity is often based on the presence or absence of residual primary disease. Reoperation is warranted or radiotherapy doses altered if the physician is aware that the tumor was incompletely excised. Most patients with soft-tissue masses undergo an initial excision before definitive therapy. These initial unplanned total excisions are usually excisional biopsies for presumably benign disease. Ninety patients were reviewed to evaluate the adequacy of unplanned total excision. All patients underwent unplanned supposed total excisions. Most patients were then treated with preoperative intraarterial Adriamycin (Adria Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio) and radiation therapy, followed by wide reexcision of the prior operative field. Forty-six patients (51.1%) had no gross residual tumor in the reoperative specimen. In two patients, there was microscopic but not macroscopic disease. Forty-four patients (48.9%) had identifiable macroscopic residual disease in the reoperative specimen. When comparing these 44 patients with visible (macroscopic) residual tumor to the remaining 46, no differences were seen in age, sex, stage, histologic type, time from excision to reoperation, or size of initial lesion. This previously unrecognized high incidence of gross residual disease must be considered when planning definitive therapy. Unplanned total excisions are inadequate to remove local disease and, despite multimodality therapy, may result in local failure. Reoperation should be a planned part of definitive management for patients with soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremity whenever the initial surgical procedure was done without a histologic diagnosis or was not planned to be a wide excision. If reoperation cannot be performed, radiotherapy doses to treat gross residual disease should be used.