Clinico-epidemiological profile and management outcome of subungual digital glomus tumor-Indian experience

Background Glomus tumors are rare tumors arising from the mesenchymal smooth muscle cells of the glomus body. They are extremely painful tumors but because of their subungual location, remain mostly underdiagnosed. Aim To characterize the demographic, clinical, onychoscopic, radiological features and management outcome of subungual glomus tumor. Material & methods- 15 patients with a total of 16 subungual glomus tumors were evaluated and their demographic data, history, clinical features, investigations, treatment, and follow-up were analyzed. Results Glomus tumors had a female preponderance (11/15) with thumb being the commonest site. All patients presented with intractable pain. Nail discoloration was observed in 11/16 (68.8%) lesions and nail plate deformity in 6/16 (37.5%) lesions. Common features on onychosocpy were pink glow and linear vascular structures. Doppler sonography and/or magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the diagnosis of glomus tumor in all the lesions. Surgical excision was done under local anesthesia using a trans-ungual approach and no recurrence was seen. Conclusions High index of suspicion, meticulous clinical assessment along with radiological investigations can help in the early diagnosis. Complete surgical excision is the treatment of choice to prevent recurrence.