Osteoblastoma of the elbow: analysis of 13 patients and literature review

Purpose To analyze the clinical and radiographic characteristics, treatment, and outcome of patients with elbow osteoblastoma. Patients and methods We present 13 patients (7 males and 6 females; mean age, 28 years) diagnosed and treated for an elbow osteoblastoma from 1975 to 2012. Mean follow-up was 29 months (range 12–60 months). Clinical presentation, imaging, surgical treatment, complications, range of elbow motion, and functional outcome were evaluated. The MSTS, DASH, and OXFORD scores were used. Results Main symptom was pain (all patients) accompanied by stiffness (8 patients) and swelling or tumefaction (7 patients), with a median duration of symptoms of 32 months (range 6–96 months). Distal humerus was affected in 10 patients, proximal ulna in 2 patients, and proximal radius in one patient. All patients underwent surgical therapy that consisted of curettage of the lesion (7 patients), curettage and bone allografting (3 patients), wide resection (2 patients; total distal humerus and resection of the radial head), and radiofrequency thermal ablation (1 patient). One patient experienced a recurrence after surgical treatment. The mean MSTS score after treatment was 87% (range 50–100%), which corresponds to excellent results Conclusions Intralesional surgery is successful in tumor control in most patients with osteoblastoma of the elbow. Thermal ablation may be successful for smaller lesions. Most of the patients had a good-to-excellent functional outcome even if they had tumor-related elbow stiffness at diagnosis