Subtrochanteric osteoid osteoma: A misdiagnosed case complicated by a hip fracture

A 34-year-old man with a subtrochanteric osteoid osteoma localized to the lateral cortex of the left femur is reported. The patient presented with mild spontaneous pain of the lateral thigh and knee. He refused a radiographic examination and was treated as a greater trochanteric pain syndrome for 9 months. He was then admitted with a transcervical fracture of the neck of the left femur after a fall from standing height. The fracture was fixed with 3 cannulated screws and healed uneventfully. His symptoms worsened after the first postoperative year. Eighteen months postoperatively the pain was dull, worsening at night, and relieved only with anti-inflammatory drugs, and he had a limp. New radiographs and tomograms were indicative of a lateral subtrochanteric osteoid osteoma with a subperiosteal localization. The lesion was treated successfully with surgical excision of a piece of reactive bone including the nidus.