Excision of the hamate for an unusual hand tumour

A right-handed man with an enlarging bony swelling of his dominant hand developed symptoms of median and ulnar nerve compression. He underwent simple excision of the hamate and histology showed the lesion to be a benign chondroblastoma. At 2-year follow-up he was found to be doing a heavy manual job with no functional problems and there were no signs of recurrence of the tumour. To our knowledge this is the first reported case of a benign hand tumour treated by simple excision of the hamate.