title: Subungual glomus tumors of the hand: Treated by transungual excision.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Glomus tumors are benign hamartomas arising from the glomus body, mostly occurring in the subungual region of the digits. A triad of excruciating pain, localized tenderness and cold sensitivity is the key to diagnosing these tumors. Two surgical approaches are described in the literature for excision of subungual glomus tumors-transungual and periungual. We reviewed retrospectively the results of subungual glomus tumors of the hand treated by transungual excision.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve patients (9 females and 3 males) with histopathologically confirmed subungual glomus tumors of the hand were treated by transungual excision at our institute. The mean age of the patients was 40.5 years (range 28-63 years). All patients presented with pain in the nail bed and cold sensitivity. A bluish-brown discoloration was present in 6 patients. Love's pin test was positive in all and Hildreth's test was positive in 8 patients. The mean duration of followup was 38 months (range 8-72 months).
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients had complete pain relief. There was no new nail deformity and no recurrence till last followup. One patient had deformity of the nail preoperatively due to previous surgery, which persisted after excision of the tumor. All of them returned to their preoperative occupation and regained full function of the hand.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The transungual approach provides good access to the entire lesion and facilitates complete excision. Contrary to reported literature, we did not find the development of any new nail deformity with this approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally, Nalgonda, Telangana, India.
authors.forename: Harshad
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jawalkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally, Nalgonda, Telangana, India.
authors.forename: Venkateshwar Reddy
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Maryada
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally, Nalgonda, Telangana, India.
authors.forename: Venkatramana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brahmajoshyula
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally, Nalgonda, Telangana, India.
authors.forename: Guruvardhan Kumar V
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Kotha
keywords: Glomus tumors; Tumors; glomus tumor; hand; nail-plate; neoplasms; subungual; surgical procedure; transungual