Hand Tumours in Lagos, Nigeria: A Clinicopathologic Study

Abstract

Background: Hand tumours occur infrequently and are commonly benign, however when malignant they could be life threatening. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence, demographics, the clinical presentations and treatment outcome of hand tumours among patients attending the hand service of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
Methods: We studied the clinical and pathological records of a 124  consecutive hand tumours that presented at hand clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital(LUTH) between June 2003 and June 2013 .
Results: A total of 124 patients were seen of which 98 had excision biopsies . The male to female sex ratio was 1: 1.3. The mean age at presentation was 32.7 years sd ± 8.44 years. An overwhelming majority (94.9%) had their procedures done under local/regional anaesthesia. Two patients died and three of the tumours recurred during the follow up period. The commonest histopathological diagnoses included ganglion cyst, giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath and pyogenic granuloma constituting 23.8%. 15.7% and 6.7% of the cases seen respectively.
Conclusion: Hand tumours in Lagos tend to affect young adults with a slight female preponderance. Majority of the tumours were benign. Primary hand malignancy was uncommon and mortality was low. Nearly all (97%) of the surgically treated patients returned to their premorbid occupation.

Key words: Hand tumours, biopsy, soft tissue.