Review of Histology Results of Hand Masses: A South African Audit

Background: Patients with hand masses present for consultation either for pain, loss of function, or cosmetic embarrassment caused by the mass. The majority of hand masses are benign soft tissue tumors. The aim was to review the histology results of hand masses operated on at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital Hand Unit in Johannesburg, South Africa, to explore the relationship of the types of masses according to age, sex, side, and compare the findings with what is in the current literature. Methods: Patients operated on in the hand unit, for hand masses between April 2016 and April 2019 with histology results were included in the study for statistical  analysis. Results: There were 64 males and 105 females with a mean age of 41.03 ± 18.81 years. The most frequent masses were ganglion cysts.  Females appeared to be more affected than males by the different hand masses, but there were no statistically significant differences. Of the 21 giant cell tumors, 15 occurred on the right hand (p-value = 0.021). Conclusion: The profile of hand masses at a high-volume hand unit in Johannesburg, were comparable to the reported literature. There  were no significant differences between sex and diagnosis, however, there was a relationship between diagnosis and side for giant cell tumors of tendon sheaths, requiring further exploration.