Surgical treatment of benign subungual tumours—a systematic review and case series

**Background**: Proper surgical technique is critical in the excision of benign subungual tumours to ensure complete tumour removal and prevent nail deformities. A systematic literature review was performed to identify approaches to excision and their clinical outcome. We present a series of rare be...

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Main Authors: Pelicia Lim, Brian Yue, Andrew Cavallo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons 2023-09-01
Series:Australasian Journal of Plastic Surgery
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.34239/ajops.87779
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author Pelicia Lim
Brian Yue
Andrew Cavallo
author_facet Pelicia Lim
Brian Yue
Andrew Cavallo
author_sort Pelicia Lim
collection DOAJ
description **Background**: Proper surgical technique is critical in the excision of benign subungual tumours to ensure complete tumour removal and prevent nail deformities. A systematic literature review was performed to identify approaches to excision and their clinical outcome. We present a series of rare benign subungual tumours to highlight different approaches and their outcomes. **Methods**: A systematic review of English language literature was conducted using the PubMed database between 1 January 1962 and 31 December 2021 for studies describing surgical approaches to benign subungual tumours. Search terms include ‘glomus tumour’, ‘subungual exostosis’, ‘osteoid osteoma’, ‘fibro-osseous pseudotumour of the digit’, ‘enchondroma’ and ‘implantation dermoid tumour’. We performed a retrospective review of patient records from our institute from 2021–2022. Six patients with subungual tumours were selected. **Results**: Twenty-one studies (with a total of 228 participants) described various techniques for excision of benign subungual tumours. The majority of the studies (n = 18) described the transungual approach, which allows maximum tumour exposure but with risk of nail deformity postoperatively. Other approaches described include lateral subperiosteal (n = 3), periungual (n = 2), nail bed margin (n = 1) and fish mouth (n = 2). Outcomes were measured using the rate of postoperative nail deformity and rate of tumour recurrence. Our series of patients were treated with excision using the transungual (5 of 6) and periungual approach (1 of 6), with good results. **Conclusion**: The available literature demonstrates that the transungual approach is the most widely used technique for removal of subungual tumours. This technique provides excellent tumour exposure; however, it is associated with damage to the nail bed. Our case series suggests that risk of nail dystrophy can be minimised by meticulous nail bed repair.
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spelling doaj-art-407029a93dee48038bf8380974cf1f362025-08-20T03:45:24ZengAustralian Society of Plastic SurgeonsAustralasian Journal of Plastic Surgery2209-170X2023-09-016210.34239/ajops.87779Surgical treatment of benign subungual tumours—a systematic review and case seriesPelicia LimBrian YueAndrew Cavallo**Background**: Proper surgical technique is critical in the excision of benign subungual tumours to ensure complete tumour removal and prevent nail deformities. A systematic literature review was performed to identify approaches to excision and their clinical outcome. We present a series of rare benign subungual tumours to highlight different approaches and their outcomes. **Methods**: A systematic review of English language literature was conducted using the PubMed database between 1 January 1962 and 31 December 2021 for studies describing surgical approaches to benign subungual tumours. Search terms include ‘glomus tumour’, ‘subungual exostosis’, ‘osteoid osteoma’, ‘fibro-osseous pseudotumour of the digit’, ‘enchondroma’ and ‘implantation dermoid tumour’. We performed a retrospective review of patient records from our institute from 2021–2022. Six patients with subungual tumours were selected. **Results**: Twenty-one studies (with a total of 228 participants) described various techniques for excision of benign subungual tumours. The majority of the studies (n = 18) described the transungual approach, which allows maximum tumour exposure but with risk of nail deformity postoperatively. Other approaches described include lateral subperiosteal (n = 3), periungual (n = 2), nail bed margin (n = 1) and fish mouth (n = 2). Outcomes were measured using the rate of postoperative nail deformity and rate of tumour recurrence. Our series of patients were treated with excision using the transungual (5 of 6) and periungual approach (1 of 6), with good results. **Conclusion**: The available literature demonstrates that the transungual approach is the most widely used technique for removal of subungual tumours. This technique provides excellent tumour exposure; however, it is associated with damage to the nail bed. Our case series suggests that risk of nail dystrophy can be minimised by meticulous nail bed repair.https://doi.org/10.34239/ajops.87779
spellingShingle Pelicia Lim
Brian Yue
Andrew Cavallo
Surgical treatment of benign subungual tumours—a systematic review and case series
Australasian Journal of Plastic Surgery
title Surgical treatment of benign subungual tumours—a systematic review and case series
title_full Surgical treatment of benign subungual tumours—a systematic review and case series
title_fullStr Surgical treatment of benign subungual tumours—a systematic review and case series
title_full_unstemmed Surgical treatment of benign subungual tumours—a systematic review and case series
title_short Surgical treatment of benign subungual tumours—a systematic review and case series
title_sort surgical treatment of benign subungual tumours a systematic review and case series
url https://doi.org/10.34239/ajops.87779
work_keys_str_mv AT pelicialim surgicaltreatmentofbenignsubungualtumoursasystematicreviewandcaseseries
AT brianyue surgicaltreatmentofbenignsubungualtumoursasystematicreviewandcaseseries
AT andrewcavallo surgicaltreatmentofbenignsubungualtumoursasystematicreviewandcaseseries