RFA provides sustained pain relief in osteoid osteoma

SAN FRANCISCO-CT-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) offers long-term pain reduction in patients with osteoid osteoma, making RFA a viable alternative to open surgery, according to researchers from Seoul, South Korea.

“Surgery is considered if pain persists, but open surgical excision is known to have high morbidity, and recurrence is not uncommon,” Ki Sun Sung, MD, PhD, said at the 2007 American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons meeting (abstract 464). Dr. Sung and his co-authors are from Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Samsung Medical Center.

This retrospective study focused on 28 patients, between 1995 and 2005, with osteoid osteoma, all of whom did not respond to conservative treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs. Patients underwent RFA and had at least 2 years of follow-up data available. Of the 28 patients, 26 had primary tumors and two had recurring disease. The nidus size ranged from 2 to 14 mm in diameter. During CT-guided RFA, the lesion was heated to 80 to 90 C for an average of 6.5 minutes.

RFA was deemed technically successful in 27 cases. There was one skin burn complication. All patients were discharged 1.8 days after the procedure. At 2 years post-RFA, 90% of patients said they had a complete loss of symptoms. An additional RFA procedure was required in three subjects for a recurrence rate of about 10%. These patients said they had pain relief after the second treatment. All patients remained symptom free 6 years after RFA.