Idiopathic tenosynovitis of the wrist with multiple rice bodies: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND: Multiple rice bodies in the wrist is a rare disorder that requires surgery, and there are still many uncertainties regarding its diagnosis and treatment. CASE SUMMARY: We described a rare case of chronic idiopathic tenosynovitis with rice bodies of the wrist in a 71-year-old man and reviewed similar topics in the literature. A total of 43 articles and 61 cases were included in the literature review. Our case had a usual presentation: it was similar to those in the literature. The affected population was mainly older adults, with an average age of 59.43 (range, 3 to 90) years. The male-to-female ratio was 1.54:1 (37/24).Most of them showed limited swelling and pain, only 23.0% had carpal tunnel symptoms, and the average disease duration was 18.03 (0.5-60) mo. Wrist flexor tendon sheath involvement was the most common (95.1%, 58/61), and only 3 cases had extensor tendon sheath involvement.The main causes were tuberculosis (34.4%, 21/61), non-tuberculous mycobacteria (24.6%, 15/61), idiopathic tenosynovitis (31.1%, 19/61), and others (9.84%, 6/61). There were 10 patients with recurrences; in 6 of them, were due to non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections. CONCLUSION: We reported a case of wrist idiopathic tenosynovitis with rice body formation, and established a clinical management algorithm for wrist tenosynovitis with rice bodies, which can provide some reference for our clinical diagnosis and treatment. The symptoms of rice-body bursitis of the wrist are insidious, nonspecific, and difficult to identify. The aetiology is mainly idiopathic tenosynovitis and mycobacterial (tuberculosis or non-tuberculous) infections; the latter are difficult to treat and require long-duration systemic combination antibiotic therapies. Therefore, before a diagnosis of idiopathic tenosynovitis is made, we must exclude other causes, especially mycobacterial infections.