Excisional biopsy of suspected benign soft tissue tumors of the upper extremity: correlation between preoperative diagnosis and actual pathology

Background: Tumors of the upper extremity are common and mostly benign. However, the prevalence of discordant diagnosis of a solid hand tumor is less studied. The objectives of this retrospective study were (1) to determine the proportion of patients with a different (discrepant or discordant) pathological diagnosis compared to the preoperative diagnosis, (2) to determine the prevalence of the types of pathologies encountered at excisional biopsy for suspected benign tumors, and (3) to determine the types of tumors diagnosed when the surgeon does not make a preoperative diagnosis.