Solitary Glomus Tumor on the Base of the Right Thumb: A Rare Case Report and a Literature Review from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

A glomus tumor (GT) is a rare and usually benign tumor that originates from the glomus body, which is involved in thermoregulation in the skin. Solitary or multiple, digital or extra-digital, these cutaneous tumors can be benign or malignant. This report describes the diagnosis and surgical management of a solitary glomus tumor at the base of the right thumb in a young Sudanese woman. The diagnosis of glomus tumor was confirmed by medical history, sonographic findings and histopathological report. The lesion was excised via direct complete excision under local anesthesia, resulting in a complete resolution of symptoms. Owing to its high sensitivity level, the use of ultrasound is appropriate to evaluate a lesion suspected to be a glomus tumor. A clinician needs to take into consideration the likelihood of glomus tumors when assessing a patient who has a skin lesion on fingers, toes, or extra-digital area, with pain triggered by temperature changes, pressure, or touch. Additionally, this report includes a review of recent globally reported cases of glomus tumor in the hand to highlight the distinctiveness of this report in context to its atypical location in the area of the thenar eminence and underscoring it as a unique report of its kind from Saudi Arabia.

Keywords:

• glomus
• digital
• extra digital
• hand
• thumb
• solitary
• benign

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the College of Medicine, Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University (RC12.12.12) in human studies.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all the subjects involved in the study. It is confirmed that the patient’s informed consent for the case details to be published including the publication of the images has been obtained.

Data Sharing Statement

All data underlying the results are available as part of the article and no additional source data are required.

Disclosure

The author declares no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This study did not receive any external funding.