Abstract

Aim: The soft tissue and bone tumors which are located in the upper extremity usually have a benign character.  These lesions which require careful diagnosis and treatment are mostly studied retrospectively and in small series. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relations of the tumors located in the upper extremity by age, gender, mass location, clinical and pathological diagnosis and their compliance with these diagnoses.

Material and Methods: We analyzed the data of 125 patients who were operated between 2000-2011 at Inonu University School of Medicine Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology. 125 patients; 52 male (41.6%), 73 female (58.4%) were enrolled in this retrospective study. The mean age was 36,8 (7-85) years 96.8% of lesions were classified as benign and 3.2% as malign.

Results: Histopathological diagnoses were ganglion cysts (28%), enchondromas (11.2%), tendon sheat giant cell tumors (5.6%) and lipomas (5.6%). We noticed that our clinical provisional diagnoses were compatible with pathological diagnoses in 60.8% of frequently seen tumors.

Conclusion: The diagnosis is determined in most of upper extremity tumors by simple physical examination, and conventional radiological techniques. We must comply with the rules of tumor treatment and the mainstay of treatment for hand surgery. In benign tumors, the treatment mostly is excisional biopsy but sometimes  reconstructive procedures are required. The treatment of malign tumors should be planned in a multidisciplinary management.     

Key Words: Benign; Extremity; Malign; Biopsy; Tumor.