Topic: Pyogenic Granulomas

Greetings colleagues,

Welcome to the Hands-On The East Bay Newsletter, which summarizes key topics in hand surgery for providers on the front lines. I'm Dr. Jesse Dashe, an orthopedic hand surgeon at the East Bay Hand Medical Center.

Question:

What are pyogenic granulomas?

Answer: 

Pyogenic granulomas are benign overgrowths of blood vessels that often occur on the hands and fingers. They can occur at any age.

Question:

What causes them?

Answer: 

The exact cause is unknown, but minor trauma such as a skin puncture is often reported. They can also occur do to hormonal factors and certain medications can play a role.

Question:

Where do they occur?

Answer: 

Common locations include:

• Fingers - especially around nails

• Hand dorsum

• Palms

Question:

What do they look like?

Answer: 

• Red or purple papule or nodule

• Pedunculated growth with smooth or lobulated surface

• Often ulcerates and bleeds easily

• Rapidly growing

• Patient often covering the lesion with bandaids and needing to change them frequently

Question:

How are they treated?

Answer: 

• Excision to the base of the lesion and cauterization with silver nitrate and/or electrocautery

• Recurrence is common

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to refer any patients. You can refer patients at handreferral.com or by using this link:

If you need to reach me directly, please respond to this email or email me at [email protected].

Please contact me so I can come by your facility to meet face-to-face and/or give presentations, splinting sessions, etc.

Lastly, let me know if you have any other hand topics you would like covered in the future!

Sincerely,

Jesse Dashe, MD