Conservative treatment for patients with osteoid osteoma: a case series

Osteoid osteoma is one type of benign bone tumor that may respond to conservative treatment. A retrospective study of 11 patients with osteoid osteoma was performed. Initially, patients were treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), unless they continued to have intolerable pain, or if the patient requested surgical resection and radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Conservative therapy was successful for five patients. Three patients were treated with NSAIDs and the mean duration of pain was 22 months. The other two patients went into remission without medication by 9 and 24 months, respectively. Four patients underwent surgery after an average of 12 months. Two patients were treated with RFA after 47 and 11 months, respectively. Osteoid osteoma can be treated conservatively. Surgical resection and radiofrequency ablation should also be taken into consideration as an option when the results of conservative treatment are poor.