Cutaneous tumours can be ill-delineated and subclinical tumour can be missed when using the usual methods of pathology processing because only less than 1 % of the margin is examined. Micrographic surgery was developed to allow for examination of 100 % of the margin. It reduces the recurrence rate and spares healthy tissue thus reducing lesion size and facilitating reconstruction. This method is particularly suitable for peri-orificial cutaneous tumours of the face with high rates of local recurrence. Mohs micrographic surgery is the main technique for frozen tissue and there are other often under-recognized variations using permanent paraffin sections known as the « collerette » ( spaghetti), « muffin » or the « Tübinger Torte » method.