Soft tissue swellings Flashcards
What key things must you ask about when investigating a swelling?
Duration
Pain
Change in size
History of injury
solitary or multiple
What are the characteristics of a benign tumour
Smaller size
Fluctation in size
cystic/fluid filled
soft/fatty
well defined
What are the characteristics of a malignant swelling?
Large
rapid growing
solid
ill defined
systemic upset
lymphadenopathy
What is a Lipoma?
Common build up of subcutaneous fat
Painless
can be large
Entirely benign
What is a ganglion?
Commonest hand swelling
out pouching of a joint
Consits of a fibrous outer lining with a synovial inner linning
What is a mucous cyst?
Ganglion at a DIP joint
How do Baker’s cycst from?
Synovial fluid passes through a one way valve
Where do you normally find baker’s cysts?
Semimembranosis bursa
or
Gastrocnemius bursa
How do you treat a Baker’s cyst?
Just leave it alone,
if you excise it then it will just return
What is an implantation dermoid?
Penetrating trauma pushes epithelial cells into subcutaneous tissue
A reactive cyst then forms
What is myositis ossificans?
After blunt trauma an intramuscular haematoma forms which then calcifies
How do you treat myositis ossificans?
usually diminishes over time
Indomathacin can help
