Subungual exostosis

This report is intended to focus attention on the often occurring, but seldom reported, subungual exostosis. Familiarity with its clinical characteristics should enable the physician to make a preoperative diagnosis or at least include it in the differential diagnosis of any subungual growth. Establishing the practice of x-raying all subungual tumors may save the physician's ego from the trauma of a missed diagnosis. More importantly, however, it may save the patient from unnecessary and at times even unnecessarily drastic surgery.