[Post-traumatic cyst of the scaphoid--a case report]

Carpal bone cysts are very uncommon and they are usually occasionally diagnosed during radiological examination of the wrist after trauma. Some carpal bone cysts are symptomatic and then they are revealed on routine X-ray investigation. We present a case of 14 years old boy, in whom a scaphoid bone cyst developed around the foreign body (a splinter), stacked into the wrist when he fell on the wooden board. Because of pain, swelling and reduction of active range of motion of the wrist occurred at the load of the hand and lasted 3 months, patient was given radiological examination which was negative, and eventually CT scanning revealed a scaphoid bone cyst. Patient underwent operation: curettage of the lesion followed by filling of the bone defect with prepared allogenic bone. Histopathological examination of the contents of the cyst showed presence of wood piece, surrounded with granulomatic tissue and necrotic trabecular bone. This suggested a splinter stacked in the wrist at the primary injury to be a cause of cyst formation. Surgery resulted in complete recovery in 6 months.