Osteoid Osteoma and Osteoblastoma of the Cervical Spine: The Cause of Unusual Persistent Neck Pain

Background The most important symptom in patients with osteoid osteoma and osteoblastoma is a resistant localized neck pain and stiffness in the spine Objective To evaluate and analyze 6 cases of osteoid osteoma and osteoblastoma of the cervical spine that were surgically treated over a 7 year period and to emphasize the unusual persistent neck pain associated with osteoid osteoma and osteoblastoma of the cervical spine Study Design Retrospective study Methods Six patients 3 male and 3 female with a mean age of 21 years (range 16 31) diagnosed with osteoid osteoma or osteoblastoma during 2003 to 2009 were analyzed retrospectively The preoperative neurological and clinical symptoms neck pain duration preoperative deformity location of lesion radiological findings surgical technique and clinical follow up outcomes of each patient were evaluated Results The average follow up duration was 40 5 months (range 19 to 83 months) Three patients had osteoid osteoma (2 female and one male) and 3 patients had osteoblastoma (one female and 2 male) Two male patients had recurrent osteoblastoma The locations of the lesions were as follows C7 (2 patients) C3 (one patient) C2 (one patient) C3 C4 (one patient) and C5 C6 (one patient) The most common symptom was local neck pain in the region of the tumor Among all patients only one patient who had osteoblastoma had neurological deficits (right C5-C6 root symptoms) The other patients had no neurological deficits All patients were treated with surgical resection using microsurgery Two patients underwent only tumor resection one patient underwent tumor resection and fusion and the other 3 patients underwent tumor resection fusion and spinal instrumentation No perioperative complications developed in any of our patients There was no tumor recurrence during the follow-up period Limitations A retrospective study with 6 analyses of cases Conclusion Surgical treatment of osteoid osteoma and osteoblastoma of the spine has been standardized The most common symptom of osteoid osteoma and osteoblastoma of the cervical spine is local persistent neck pain in the region of the tumor This symptom can be significant in the diagnosis of these tumors