[Glomus tumors of the finger: a report on 60 cases]

We evaluated patients who underwent surgery for glomus tumors of the finger.

During a 23-year period, 60 patients (48 females, 12 males; mean age 34.6 years; range 5 to 60 years) underwent surgery for glomus tumors of the finger. The patients were evaluated with respect to symptoms on presentation, diagnosis, operation types, and postoperative complications. The mean follow-up was 16 months (range 6 to 72 months).

The most common symptom was pain (67%), which intensified when exposed to cold in 42%. Other symptoms included tenderness in 37 patients (62%), swelling in the finger tip in six patients (10%), and nail deformities in 34 patients (57%). The tumors were most frequently encountered in the fourth and fifth decades of age. Localization of the tumor was in the right hand in 32 patients (53.3%), and in the left hand in 28 patients (46.7%). The time to surgery from the onset of symptoms ranged from six months to 30 years (mean 6 years). Fifty-one patients were examined by plain radiographs, 27 of which showed concave-surface erosions in the bone; nine patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging studies besides plain radiography. The tumors were subungual in 49 patients (82%) and in the pulp in 11 patients (18%), for which transungual and midlateral approaches were applied, respectively. Postoperatively, nine patients (15%) developed recurrences, all of whom achieved clinical recovery following a subsequent operation.

Given the considerably delayed time to diagnosis, glomus tumors should be taken into consideration in the presence of severe finger tip pain of unknown origin.