Hibernoma Around Shoulder Joint: Diagnosis and Surgical Treatment of a Rare Presentation

INTRODUCTION: Hibernomas are uncommon benign proliferations arising from the adipocytes of brown fat usually occurring over back, neck, shoulder, and thighs. It is an underreported entity often misdiagnosed as a lipoma. CASE REPORT: We report a case of an otherwise healthy thirty-four-year-old male who presented with a painless swelling, with no preceding trauma, involving the right shoulder joint of three months duration. MRI revealed it to be a fatty intense lesion arising within the anterior fibers of the right deltoid. The tumor was removed en-masse with wide local excision through the deltopectoral route. The histopathology of the resected tumor was consistent with the diagnosis of hibernoma. The patient recovered the previously hindered movements at the shoulder joint 2 weeks post-operatively. CONCLUSION: Hibernoma should be considered as a differential diagnosis for soft tissue tumors occurring in the above-mentioned sites. It can be completely resected surgically and no recurrences post-excision have been reported till date.