New Strategies for Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Osteoid Osteoma of the Lesser Trochanter of Femur

Abstract

Aims: Herein, we examined the efficacy of open resection in proximal femoral osteoid osteoma (OO) treatment. Besides, we analysed the causes of misdiagnosis of proximal femoral OO to provide a reference for its diagnosis and treatment.Methods: This was a retrospective study involving 29 patients with proximal femoral OO admitted into our hospital from January 2010 to January 2018. The baseline characteristics of the participants included; 21 males and 9 females, aged between 13 to 25 (mean 16.2) years old, and the course of the disease was 1 to 14 (mean 6.1) months. We used previous medical experience records of the patients to analyze for the causes of misdiagnosis. Moreover, we compared the difference between preoperative and postoperative treatment practices in alleviating pain in OO patients and restoring hip function. Follow-ups were conducted regularly, and patients advised to avoid strenuous exercises for 3 months.Results: We followed up 29 patients (21 intercortical, 2 sub-periosteal, and 6 medullary) for an average of 42.5 months. We found that 13 patients (44.8%) had been misdiagnosed of synovitis, Perthes disease, osteomyelitis, intra-articular infection, and joint tuberculosis, whose average time from symptoms to diagnosis were 9.8 months. Postoperative pain score and joint function score improved significantly compared with preoperative, and complications were rare.Conclusion: Open surgical resection constitutes an effective treatment for proximal femoral OO by accurately and completely removing the nidus. Lack of understanding, wrong choice of examination, and the complexity and diversity of clinical manifestations constitute the main reasons for the misdiagnosis of proximal femoral OO.