Managing acrometastases treatment strategy with a case illustration

Abstract

The hand is the site of a great variety of benign lesions and, rarely, of malignant lesions. Acrometastasis can be the first manifestation of occult malignancy. Frequently, these lesions present in a similar way to benign conditions leading to erroneous diagnosis and inappropriate treatment. When located in the finger, the most frequent cause is lung cancer, while in the toes it is due to genito-urinary tumours. Awareness of the possibility of metastatic disease during orthopaedic assessment is essential to decrease patient morbidity. A case that was referred to our institution with a single metastasis in a digit from occult gastric adenocarcinoma is used to illustrate the way these lesions are managed. The diagnostic difficulties are summarised and an overview of literature was performed to determine management pathways to aid others in the treatment of these case.