Orthopaedic Case of the Month: A 16-year-old Boy with a Recurrent Mass of the First Toe

Excerpt

A 16-year-old boy was referred to our outpatient clinic with a painless, recurrent mass on the metatarsophalangeal joint of his right first toe. He first noticed the swelling approximately 6 months earlier after experiencing minor trauma while playing soccer, which resulted in a hematoma affecting the first toe. Owing to increasing swelling he had surgery under local anesthesia 3 months later to remove the tumor. Histopathologic examination classified the lesion as osteochondroma. The mass continued to grow and when the patient was referred to us approximately 3 months after the first operation, the mass was nearly twice as large as before. The patient denied constitutional symptoms, such as fever, night sweats, recent weight loss, or fatigue. The patient’s physical status was good. Aside from an operation for hexadactyly on the left foot, his medical and family histories were noncontributory. …