Preoperative, intraoperative, and immediate postoperative skeletal scintigraphy to locate and facilitate excision of an osteoid osteoma of the coronoid process

Abstract

We report the case of a 39-year-old woman with a 3-year history of inflammatory right elbow pain caused by an osteoid osteoma. Two hours before the operation, the patient received an intravenous injection of 350 MBq of Tc 99m dimethylaminodiphosphonate. The resection of the nidus, guided by the intraoperative scintigraphy, was easily performed and confirmed by postresection counting and an x-ray film. Three hours after the operation, new scintigraphic views without further injection of the bone-seeking radioisotope confirmed the complete removal of the nidus. When immediate postoperative scintigraphy shows the disappearance of the focal reinforcement of activity, it gives additional evidence of complete tumor resection.