Management of Bone Marrow Edema with Interventional Radiology: When and How

Bone marrow edema, a typical and exclusive finding of magnetic resonance imaging, is a characteristic of multiple pathologies. There is still no consensus about its origin and histologic characteristics. In this article, we describe six causes of bone edema based on pathophysiologic characteristics: traumatic, infectious, inflammatory, degenerative, tumoral, and neuromediated. For each of them, we explain both the diagnostic and therapeutic role of interventional radiology. The fundamental importance of bone biopsy in characterizing the lesions associated with bone edema is also reviewed.