Chondroblastoma of the patella: a case report of experience in diagnosis and treatment

Abstract

Background Patellar chondroblastoma is a relatively rare tumor that occurs in the patella. Chondroblastoma invasion is even rarer, accounting for about 2%, and has a lack of early specific signs. It is a rare benign tumor of cartilage origin, which often occurs in the epiphyseal of long bone in patients aged 12–20 years and has a good prognosis. At present, literature on this condition is limited and lack of relatively complete diagnosis and treatment procedures. This paper reports a case of patellar chondroblastoma that healed well after surgical treatment and systematically summarizes its clinical manifestations, imaging characteristics, differential diagnosis, and treatment methods. For Chondroblastoma of the patella, a disease with a low incidence, a complete and comprehensive diagnosis and treatment process can improve the diagnosis and treatment ability of the disease and improve the patient's satisfaction with the diagnosis and treatment, and finally achieve satisfactory results.Case Description: On February 21, 2022, a 26-year-old male patient was admitted to the hospital due to “discomfort after right knee activity for more than 6 months”. The patient had no obvious inducement to feel swelling of the right lower limb, and no chills, high fever, or paresthesia 6 months prior, and the self-reported pain during the activity was especially significant during flexion. Routinely laboratory testing after admission ruled out contraindications to surgery, and imaging clearly showed lesions in the right patella. According to the patient's signs and related examinations, the diagnosis and treatment team preliminarily diagnosed benign patellar lesions and planned elective surgical treatment. After 6 months of close follow-up and rehabilitation guidance, the function of the affected limb gradually returned to the normal level and no unexpected adverse events occurred during the entire diagnosis and treatment.Conclusions We recommend the following: (I) strive for early treatment to reduce the probability of deterioration and possible pathological fracture; (II) the most commonly used curettage should ensure thorough removal of the lesions; (III) combined internal fixation may have a positive effect on improving the postoperative dependence of patients and encouraging them to perform early functional exercise.