Presentation and Management Outcome of Glomus Tumors of the Hand

Background: To document the clinical presentation of glomus tumors of the hand and evaluate the outcome of complete surgical excision in terms of relief of symptoms, any postoperative nail deformities and tumor recurrence over a period of one year. Methods: This descriptive case series spanned over a period of twelve years. All patients of either gender and all ages who had histologically confirmed glomus tumors of the hands were included. All of them underwent surgical excision under local anesthesia. Results: Out of 17 patients, majority (n=12; 70.58%) were females. The mean age was 41.17±13.7 years. The dominant hand was involved in 11 (64.70%) patients. There were 14 patients (82.35%) with subungual tumors whereas 3(17.64%) had volar pulp glomus tumors. The mean diagnostic delay was 18.88±9.3 months. The tumor size ranged from 2 mm to 1.1cm with a mean of 4.05±4.3mm. All the patients (n=17,100%) experienced complete symptomatic relief within 2-4 weeks after surgical excision. There were no postoperative nail deformities. There was no recurrence over a period of one year. Conclusion: Glomus tumors of the hands were more frequently found among women in their fourth and fifth decades. Dominant hand, index finger and distal phalanx represented the commonest affected anatomic locales. Majority of the tumors were subungual. Majority of the patients suffered over 12 months in distressful pain before being diagnosed. Complete surgical excision under local anesthesia provided rapid relief of the symptoms. Creation of awareness about the tumor among doctors as well as public would help to ensure early presentation to plastic surgeon, prompt diagnosis and hence avoidance of the prolonged periods of agonizing misery.