Hand Enchondromas Treated with Curettage: a Single Institution Experience and Literature Review.

Purpose of the study: Hand enchondromas are benign cartilage bone tumors. Curettage represents the actual gold standard for hand enchondromas. Little has been written about the effectiveness of curettage on hand functionality.

Material and methods: In this retrospective study, we evaluated the effectiveness of curettage and bone grafting on the hand. For each case, we compared the pre-operative and post-operative QuickDASH of the treated limb. The final functional outcome was also evaluated by calculating the affected finger's Total Active Movement (TAM). Complications and local recurrences were recorded.

Results: Forty-five cases were included in our study. Fifteen of them had a pathological fracture. The mean pre-operative QuickDASH score was 48.4. No intraoperative complications occurred. After a mean follow-up of 38.1 months, the mean QuickDASH score had decreased to 4.4, and the TAM was optimal or sub-optimal. QuickDASH and TAM were significantly better for those with pathologic fractures before surgery. Only 3 cases (7%) had postoperative complications, and 1 (2%) had a local recurrence.

Discussion: Our results prove the effectiveness of curettage and early rehabilitation in increasing and restoring the performances of the treated hands. Our patients experienced a significant improvement in their functionality after surgery, generally passing from a poor to an excellent status. In our cohort, those who had a pathologic fracture before surgery had slightly but significantly worse functional outcomes compared to those who did not suffer pre-operative lesions.

Conclusions: Curettage and early postoperative rehabilitation can lead to good clinical and functional outcomes for hand enchondromas. Patients with pathologic fractures, although slightly exposed to a higher risk of sub-optimal outcomes, can also aim for good post-operative functionality.

Key words: hand, chondroma, QuickDASH, fracture, rehabilitation.