Synovial osteochondromatosis of the wrist joint: A case report

Synovial osteochondromatosis is a rare condition in which multiple cartilaginous nodules proliferate within the synovial membranes of joints, tendon sheaths or bursae. In general, a complete synovectomy is an effective method to treat this disease. Commonly involved joints are the knee, glenohumeral joint, elbow, hip and ankle, although any articulation may be affected. However, synovial osteochondromatosis occurs rarely in the wrist, and there have been a lack of reports of this occurrence in the literature. The current study presents a case of synovial osteochondromatosis in a 33-year-old man, who was admitted in 2014 with the symptom of swelling of the left wrist joint for 2 years. The swelling had become increasingly painful over the previous 2 months. Physical examination revealed local tenderness and a soft pliable mass, with no involvement of the skin and with moderate pain. X-ray, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the left wrist revealed a lump at the volar radial side of the left wrist joint without any bone erosion. The lesion was subsequently excised. Histological examination resulted in a diagnosis of osteochondromatosis, which was not considered prior to the surgery. The present case was reported with the aim of analyzing the clinical, imaging characteristic and therapeutic modalities of synovial osteochondromatosis of the wrist. While there was no evidence of recurrence for the subsequent 4 months of post-operative follow-up in the present case, the long-term efficacy of surgical excision requires extended observation.