Experience of the Rizzoli Institute in Radiofrequency Thermal Ablation of Musculoskeletal Lesions

Osteoid osteoma: Contemporary management

Osteoid osteoma is a benign bone-forming tumor with hallmark of tumor cells directly forming mature bone. Osteoid osteoma accounts for around 5% of all bone tumors and 11% of benign bone tumors with a male predilection. It occurs predominantly in long bones of the appendicular skeleton. According to Musculoskeletal Tumor Society staging system for benign tumors, osteoid osteoma is a stage-2 lesion. It is classified based on location as cortical, cancellous, or subperiosteal. Nocturnal pain is the most common symptom that usually responds to salicyclates and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. CT is the modality of choice not only for diagnosis but also for specifying location of the lesion, i.e. cortical vs sub periosteal or medullary. Non-operative treatment can be considered as an option since the natural history of osteoid osteoma is that of spontaneous healing. Surgical treatment is an option for patients with severe pain and those not responding to NSAIDs. Available surgical procedures include radiofrequency (RF) ablation, CT-guided percutaneous excision and en bloc resection.

Computed tomography-guided percutaneous trephine removal of the nidus in osteoid osteoma patients: experience of a single center in Brazil

Objective

To report the results of computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous resection of the nidus in 18 cases of osteoid osteoma.

Materials and Methods

The medical records of 18 cases of osteoid osteoma in children, adolescents and young adults, who underwent CT-guided removal of the nidus between November, 2004 and March, 2009 were reviewed retrospectively for demographic data, lesion site, clinical outcome and complications after procedure.

Results

Clinical follow-up was available for all cases at a median of 29 months (range 6–60 months). No persistence of pre-procedural pain was noted on 17 patients. Only one patient experienced recurrence of symptoms 12 months after percutaneous resection, and was successfully retreated by the same technique, resulting in a secondary success rate of 18/18 (100%).

Conclusion

CT-guided removal or destruction of the nidus is a safe and effective alternative to surgical resection of the osteoid osteoma nidus.

Reduction of radiation dose during radiofrequency denervation of the lumbar facet joints using the new targeting system SabreSource: a prospective study in 20 patients

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Facet joint denervation is a frequently performed technique to treat facet joint syndrome. Most often this technique is used under fluoroscopic guidance implicating high radiation doses for both patients and surgeons. This prospective study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness in reducing radiation dose during radiofrequency ablation therapy of the lumbar facet joints and to evaluate the feasibility and possibilities of the new real time image guidance system SabreSource.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

As much as 20 consecutive patients with radiofrequency ablation therapy of the facet joints L4 to S1 were included. Ten patients were treated by fluoroscopic control alone; the following 10 patients were treated with the SabreSource image guidance system. A total of 40 thermal ablations to the facet joints were performed. Each patient was given one thermal ablation on both sides of the vertebral segment, either to the facet joints of L4-L5 or of L5-S1. Pain, according to the visual analogue scale (VAS), was documented before and 6 h after the intervention. Radiation dose, time of radiation and the number of shots needed to place the radiofrequency cannula were recorded.

RESULTS

No complications occurred. Before therapy, the mean VAS in all patients was 7.6 (range 6-10). After therapy the mean VAS in all patients was 3.4 (range 0-5). Compared to the fluoroscopy-guided thermal ablation therapy the SabreSource system significantly reduced the number of fluoroscopy exposures (reduction 23.53%, p = 0.02), the time of radiation exposure (reduction 21.2%, p = 0.03) and the mean entrance surface dose (reduction 30.46%, p = 0.01).

CONCLUSION

The SabreSource System reduces radiation exposure and radiation dose in the radiofrequency denervation therapy of the lumbar facet joints and can be applied for other minimally invasive techniques.