Osteoid osteoma is a frightening sounding term, particularly when parents are told that this is what their child has. However, osteoid osteoma is not usually something to be worried about because it is a benign (not cancerous) tumor produced by bone cells and there is virtually no risk of it developing into a cancerous one. That being said, the small tumors, usually less than a centimeter, can be quite painful so they need to be treated. Most often, it is the longer bones that are affected, but any bone can develop such a tumor. The tumors are also found more often in males than females and most of them occur in patients between five and 24 years old.
Once the tumor has begun to cause pain, it may begin to cause swelling and an inability to use the body part that is affected. Some classic features of this tumor is severe night pain and relief from the pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, such as ibuprofen.
In this article, the authors describe a case history of a two-year-old boy diagnosed with osteoid osteoma after experiencing five months of left shoulder pain and increasing reluctance to use his arm. The pain was also worse at night, responding for a while to ibuprofen. The boy had not had any trauma to the arm or shoulder.
Upon examining the boy, the doctors saw no obvious injury or masses that could be felt. Although the boy may have been reluctant to use his shoulder, he did have good range of motion and his blood tests all came back within normal limits. X-rays were done and this is when the doctors saw a small suspicious area in the shoulder and a bone scan made the images clearer.
Once the diagnosis was made, treatment could begin, which in this case was surgical removal of the tumor. The boy wore a collar and cuff for two weeks after the surgery and then was allowed to resume his normal activity. When he was seen one year later, there were no lasting effects of the tumor or the surgery.