Abstract
Skin and subcutaneous tissues are the origin of most common neoplasms affecting dogs, accounting for approximately one third of all tumors encountered in the species. Surgical excision is frequently the best chance for a cure; determining factors influencing the success of excision are vital for surgical management of cases. This work examined the shrinkage of skin of various lengths from three sites in formalin for both dogs and cats. Tissues were measured on the animal (initial measurement), at the time of excision (post-removal), and after formalin fixation (post-fixation). While shrinkage after tissue removal was found in samples from the thorax, abdomen, and rear leg in dogs and from the rear leg in cats, no significant shrinkage due to formalin fixation was detected in any sample except for the thoracic samples from the dog. Therefore, when determining where to make incisions to effect a surgical cure, initial measurements should take into account tissue shrinkage effects.
Highlights
Skin and subcutaneous tissues are common sites of neoplasms affecting animals
The post-removal measurements were statistically different from the initial measurement for all measurements, but not from the post-fixation measurements aside from the thorax, which shrunk
Similar to others, found no correlation with gender, the site does seem significant in cats, as samples from the leg were the only ones with significant shrinkage
Summary
Skin and subcutaneous tissues are common sites of neoplasms affecting animals. These are the most common neoplasms of dogs, accounting for approximately one third of all tumors encountered in the species. Skin and subcutaneous neoplasms are second only to lymphoid neoplasms and account for approximately one fourth of all tumors in the species (Vail & Withrow, 2007). A variety of recommendations as to sufficient margins for surgical cure have been issued for different neoplasms. Histologic evaluation of surgical margins has been used to determine the likelihood of recurrence for soft tissue sarcomas and carcinomas (Scarpa et al, 2012).
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