Granular Cell Tumor of the Ulnar Nerve at the Wrist: A Rare Case Report

Abstract

Granular cell tumours usually involve skin and subcutaneous tissue. There are only few reports of such tumours arising from the peripheral nerves and we report one such rare case arising from ulnar nerve at wrist level.  A 17-yr old girl presented to the out-patient department with complaints of paraesthesia in left hand along the ulnar nerve distribution for a period of 4 weeks. Patient was treated for right femur shaft fracture and left elbow lateral condyle fracture 9 months prior. Granular cell tumors most often present in extra neural sites such as skin and subcutaneous tissue, the tongue and breast. They can rarely present in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts3. Neural origins of this tumour have been demonstrated in case reports only. Clinical and radiological examination of the granular cell tumors offer no distinguishing factors to help the physician anticipate the differential diagnosis. This explains the high recurrence rates of this tumour. Sufficient evidence does not exist to offer a treatment algorithm for this tumour.