Carpal Tunnel Syndrome due to Lipoma: A Case Report

Seo,  Kyu Bum; Kim,  Sang Rim; Nam,  Kwang Woo; Choi,  Sungwook; Seo,  Jun Young; Rho,  Joseph Y; Kim,  Gyeong Min

doi:2019.24.2.197

Arch Hand Microsurg > Volume 24(2); 2019 > Article

Case Report

Archives of Hand and Microsurgery 2019;24(2):197-201.
Published online June 1, 2019.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12790/ahm.2019.24.2.197

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome due to Lipoma: A Case Report

Kyu Bum Seo, Sang Rim Kim, Kwang Woo Nam, Sungwook Choi, Jun Young Seo, Joseph Y. Rho, Gyeong Min Kim

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea. k-mini319@hanmail.net

Received: 16 October 2018 • Revised: 16 January 2019 • Accepted: 9 February 2019

Abstract

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common compressive neuropathy in the hand. Median nerve is chronically compressed in a narrow space composed of transverse carpal ligament and carpal bones, which can cause pain, numbness, hypesthesia, and atrophy of the thenar muscle. In most cases, specific causes or factors can not be identified. But space occupied lesions may be locally compressed, or caused by systemic causes such as diabetes and hypothyroidism. Tumors are rarely the cause of local compression in the carpal tunnel. Lipoma is one of the most common soft tissue tumors, but it rarely occurs in the hand, and carpal tunnel syndrome due to compression of lipomas is rarely reported. We report a case of a 65-year-old patient with a diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome due to lipoma.

Key Words: Median nerve, Median neuropathy, Carpal tunnel syndrome, Lipoma