Osteoid osteoma: operative confirmation of complete removal by bone scintigraphy

The high sensitivity of bone scintigraphy in detecting osteoid osteoma throughout the skeleton has been documented. Recently, radioactive surgical specimens of osteoid osteomas were studied with microradiography, autoradiography, and well-counter scintimetry and were shown to concentrate most of the radionuclide within the nidus of the lesion. These techniques also proved helpful to surgeons in achieving cure with conservative bone excision. We present two cases of osteoid osteoma, one of them recurrent, in which the patients were injected with bone-seeking agent just prior to surgery. The excised specimens were immediately imaged and the entire nidus was seen, confirming the complete removal of the lesion. This simple and rapid procedure is suggested whenever difficulty is anticipated in removal of an osteoid osteoma.