Outcomes Following Excision of Toe Glomus Tumors.

BACKGROUND: Glomus tumors are uncommon tumors and their occurrence in the foot is even less common. Glomus tumors of the toes are often missed, causing delays in diagnosis and treatment. We report an ambispective observational study of glomus tumors of the toes that were treated at our institution. METHODS: We reviewed the records of all the patients who underwent excision of toe glomus tumors in our department from January 2010 to September 2022. The follow-up data were collected from the outpatient records and by telephonic interview. Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE) score, Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS), and the Foot Function Index (FFI) were collected. RESULTS: Out of all the patients treated for glomus tumors, we found that 7 patients had glomus tumors of the toes. Of the 7 patients, 6 were women and 1 was a male. The mean follow-up of our patients was 66.4 months (range, 7-109 months). Of the 7 patients, 1 presented with recurrent glomus tumor 30 months following the primary operation, for which she underwent excision again, after which she was symptom free. Another patient who developed recurrent symptoms on telephonic interview refused any further treatment. Among the 6 patients who were symptom-free at follow-up (including the patient who underwent excision for the recurrent tumor), the median SANE score, and FFI were 99.5 (IQR, 96-100) and 0.5 (IQR, 0-2) respectively. The mean FAOS was 96 (SD, 3.3). CONCLUSION: Surgical excision of the subungual toe glomus tumors can be curative. Recurrence of toe glomus tumors was noted in 2 patients (29%), one of whom refused further surgery. Re-excision in the other patient resulted in complete resolution of symptoms. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III, ambispective observational study.

En Bloc Excision and Bone Grafting for Monostotic Multiple Intraosseous Glomus Tumors of the Distal Phalanx: A Case Report.

CASE: Glomus tumors of the hand are rare tumors that occur predominantly in the subungual region. Though multicentric glomus tumors have been reported in the subungual region involving the nailbed, monostotic multiple intraosseous glomus tumors have not been reported so far. We report a case of a 36 year-old woman who presented with a 5-year history of intermittent thumb pain, aggravated with exposure to cold or pressure. A glomus tumor of the thumb was excised, but symptoms returned 3 months later. She ultimately underwent curettage with bone grafting of a recurrent glomus tumor at the same site, and has been free of symptoms for 1.5 years. CONCLUSION: Intraosseous glomus tumors may present as multiple synchronous lesions. This, to the best of our knowledge, is the first case report of monostotic multiple intraosseous glomus tumors.