Osteoid Osteoma in an Adult Wheelchair Basketball Player Mimicking Musculoskeletal Shoulder Pain: Red Flag or a Red Herring?

• Published in: Tomography (Ann Arbor) Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 389 - 401
• Main Authors: Maselli, Filippo, Storari, Lorenzo, Lorusso, Mariangela, Mourad, Firas, Pennella, Denis, Barbari, Valerio, Salomon, Mattia, Brindisino, Fabrizio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 07.02.2022; MDPI AG
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Basketball; Bone Neoplasms - complications; Bone Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; bone tissue; Case Report; differential diagnosis; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; neoplasms; osteoma osteoid; Osteoma, Osteoid - complications; Osteoma, Osteoid - diagnostic imaging; physical therapists; rotator cuff tendinopathy; Shoulder Pain - etiology; Wheelchairs; physical therapists; differential diagnosis; bone tissue; neoplasms; osteoma osteoid; rotator cuff tendinopathy
• ISSN: 2379-139X; 2379-1381; 2379-139X
• DOI: 10.3390/tomography8010032

Osteoid osteoma (OO) is a relatively common, benign bone-forming tumour, which mainly occurs on the long tubular bones of the limbs in adolescents. Usually, the OO is classified based on its localisation. Night-time pain is the major symptom of OO, which is commonly relieved using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, while surgery is required only for those patients with severe pain or in case of failure of previous conservative treatments. Our case report describes a 56-year-old male basketball player who self-referred to our outpatient physical therapy with a shoulder pain complaint. Considering the anamnesis and the physical examination, the physical therapist referred the patient to an orthopaedic surgeon, who suggested a detailed imaging investigation. The peculiarity of this clinical case is the overlapping of two clinical presentations: the symptomatology of the OO and the concurrent mechanical disorder due to a rotator cuff tendinopathy.