A retrospective record review of the clinical characteristics and management of primary soft tissue sarcomas in patients admitted to the surgical department of a government hospital, from January 1991 to December 2000, was done. A total of 54 cases were studied. Data showed that patients had a mean age of 45 years with an equal sex distribution. Forty two percent of sarcomas affected the lower limbs. Thirty-three percent of all cases were fibrosarcomas, and most were more than 5 cm in size and situated deep in to the fascial layer. Twenty patients (37 percent) had distant metastases on admission, 45 percent of which involved the lungs. Wide excision was the most common surgical procedure during the last three years of the study period, with less patients refusing surgery than previous years when amputation was the usual treatment. Wide excision resulted in complete gross tumor extirpation in 94 percent of cases. However, after discharge, most patients did not return for follow-up nor complied with the prescribed adjuvant treatments. (Author)