Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a slow-growing epithelial tumor of the skin that rarely metastasizes. Its incidence has been on the rise for the last 50 years. Among the many factors influencing the choice of therapy (size, tumor localization, definition of clinical margins, recurrences after previous treatment), the histopathological subtype remains the most important, independent parameter. Dermoscopy is a non-invasive diagnostic method that uses optical magnification and light to observe details that are not visible to the naked eye. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of dermoscopy in distinguishing superficial from other histopathological BCC subtypes and in peritumoral tissue analysis in terms of predicting the required edges of surgical excision to reduce recurrence rate. The study included 57 patients of both sexes with histopathologically confirmed BCC who underwent preoperative dermoscopy to predict the histopathological subtype and define the required width of the excision edge with respect to the dermoscopic structures of perilesion skin. Dermoscopy has, in distinguishing superficial from other BCC subtypes, a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 100% and an absolute measure of concordance with histopathological diagnosis (kappa coefficient = 1,000; P <0.001). The efficacy (sensitivity and specificity) of dermoscopy in distinguishing nodular from other histopathological subtypes of BCC is somewhat lower (sensitivity 100%, specificity 89,7%, kappa coefficient 0.847). Similar efficacy was shown in our study by dermoscopy in distinguishing infiltrative versus other histopathological subtypes of BCC (sensitivity 78,6%, specificity 100%, kappa coefficient 0,846). In 57 patients, we had 4 positive edges, for a total of 7,0 %. Analysis of the required width of the surgical excision edge in relation to the occurrence of recurrence showed that the optimal criterion for the required width of the surgical excision edge is 7.8 mm (sensitivity 100%, specificity 53,9%). We can conclude that our research proved that dermoscopy is a reliable diagnostic method in preoperative differentiation of superficial from other BCC subtypes and in analysis of perilesion skin with the aim of better defining the edge of surgical excision and reducing the recurrence rate.