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This article reviews the pathology and management of peripheral nerve tumours, including a framework for investigation and decision-making. Most tumours are benign, including schwannomas and neurofibromas, but malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours can occur. The risk of malignant change is remote for schwannomas but higher for neurofibromas, particularly in neurofibromatosis type 1. Magnetic resonance imaging is useful for defining the relationship of a swelling with adjacent nerves but is not definitive for tissue diagnosis. Increasing size, pain and neurological deficit suggest malignant change and TruCut needle biopsy is indicated, although there is a risk of sampling error. Excision biopsy preserving nerve function may be carried out for benign tumours to relieve symptoms. Malignant tumours require a multidisciplinary approach. Complete surgical excision with clear margins is the only curative treatment and may be supplemented with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. However, prognosis remains poor, particularly for patients with neurofibromatosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

We report clinical outcomes in 12 patients with hemi-hamate replacement arthroplasty combined with volar plate arthroplasty. The volar plate was reattached using trans-osseous sutures to reconstruct the ligament-box complex after hamate grafting to augment the stability of the proximal interphalangeal joint. Ten patients had improved joint movement from a mean of 14° before surgery to a mean of 77° at a minimum follow-up of 2 years. Grip strength and pain of the affected hand and patient-rated hand and wrist scores were improved in these 10 patients. Two patients had poor results. One patient developed ankylosis, and one patient had resorption of the grafted bone. We conclude that the augmented hamate replacement arthroplasty is useful in treating chronic proximal interphalangeal joint fracture-dislocations., Level of Evidence: IV.

This study was conducted to assess the use of a modified carpal tunnel syndrome questionnaire (the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire, BCTQ) in an Indian patient population. Seventy-six Indian patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) were recruited to this prospective study. On a scale of one to five, the average score for the severity of symptoms was 2.09 (0.89). The average score for functional disability was 1.94 (0.74), which was lower than the average function score reported for Western CTS patients (Levine et al., 1993). The symptom severity and function disability scores were higher in patients with positive Tinel's sign and Phalen's test. The function disability score was moderately correlated with other clinical tests for CTS. The average modified BCTQ scores for Indian CTS patients was established through this study. This modified questionnaire might assist physicians in developing countries to assess disability from CTS, although socioeconomic and cultural differences will have to be taken into account when comparing assessments across different populations.