Minimally Invasive Excision of Deep Bone Tumors

An osteoid osteoma is a small, benign, active, painful osteoblastic bone lesion. To effect a cure the entire nidus must be removed, because residual nidus is associated with recurrence of the osteoid osteoma [2]. The technical objective of this work was to perform minimally invasive excision of osteoid osteoma by means of computer-assisted guidance technology. The principal technical hurdle to be overcome was the difficulty of registering the surface of a long bone with minimal surgical exposure.