Enneking examined the mechanism of local spread of primary bone and soft tissue tumors of the extremities and
proposed the concept of compartmentalization and anatomic barrier. Based on this concept, he classified t
surgical margins of tumor excisions into intracapsular, marginal, wide, and radical. A radical margin means that the
lesion and the compartment (s) which it involved have been removed en bloc. A wide surgical margin means that
the lesion has been removed en bloc and that the plan of dissection has been peripheral to the reactive zone and
no natural barriers are between the lesion and the margin. A marginal margin means that the lesion has been
removed en bloc and the plane of dissection has been extracapsular, either between the pseudocapsule and the
reactive zone or within the reactive zone. Intracaspular margin means that the lesion has been removed from within
the pseudocapsule and that gross tumor is seen at the wound margins, and left in the wound are portions of the
lesions