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Painful swollen leg--think beyond deep vein thrombosis or Baker's cyst

Buchi R B Arumilli1, Vinayagam Lenin Babu, Ashok S Paul

  • 1The Regional Sarcoma Centre, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9WL, UK. rajjuorth@gmail.com

World Journal of Surgical Oncology
|January 22, 2008
PubMed

Insights

A painful swollen leg can mimic deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or Baker's cyst. Rare leg tumors, including sarcomas and giant cell tumors, should be considered in DVT-negative cases.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Radiology
  • Pathology

Background:

  • Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the leg is a frequent diagnosis in clinical practice.
  • Differential diagnosis of leg swelling often includes excluding DVT, sometimes leading to unnecessary anticoagulation for other pathologies.

Observation:

  • Presents three cases of patients with painful swollen legs initially diagnosed or treated as DVT or Baker's cyst.
  • Subsequent diagnoses revealed rare leg tumors: pleomorphic sarcoma, malignant giant cell tumor of muscle, and myxoid liposarcoma.

Findings:

  • The three cases highlight that painful swollen legs can be caused by rare mesenchymal tumors.
  • Diagnostic challenges arise when clinical presentation overlaps with more common conditions like DVT.

Implications:

  • In cases of painful swollen leg with negative duplex ultrasound for DVT, considering rare tumors is crucial.
  • Early consideration of neoplastic lesions can prevent delayed diagnosis and treatment of potentially aggressive tumors.
Abstract

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