Osteoid osteoma in children: 5 cases treated with electrocoagulation

Osteoid osteoma is a benign bone tumor. Its diagnosis is often delayed despite typical symptoms: severe pain mainly situated on the lower limbs and characteristically worse at night. Once diagnosed, an antalgic treatment by aspirin is well known to be very effective in relieving pain. Osteoid osteoma will resolve spontaneously. If symptoms persist despite the use of aspirin, surgery can be performed to remove the tumor. Percutaneous electrocoagulation can be performed instead of surgical resection as a less invasive procedure. The success rate of surgery and percutaneous electrocoagulation is comparable. We reviewed the cases of 5 patients who were hospitalized in our institution for percutaneous electrocoagulation of an osteoid osteoma. We compared them to the literature.