MEDICAL-MANAGEMENT COMPARED WITH OPERATIVE TREATMENT FOR OSTEOID-OSTEOMA

Twenty-four patients were evaluated and diagnosed, between August 1975 and July 1989, as having probable osteoid-osteoma. Fifteen patients had operative treatment (twelve immediate and three delayed); all fifteen had complete relief of pain. The remaining nine patients were treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications; all nine had complete relief of pain, and six had resolution of the symptoms without using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, after an average of thirty-three months (range, thirty to forty months) of treatment. Thus, long-term administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can often be as effective as excision for the treatment of osteoidosteoma, without the morbidity that is associated with the operation, especially in patients in whom operative treatment would be complex or might lead to disability.