Osteoid Osteoma of the wrist misdiagnosed as de Quervain’s tenosynovitis due to normal X-ray at the first visit: a case report

INTRODUCTION Osteoid osteomas are benign bone tumors that can occur in various bones throughout the body but are mainly found in the long bones. PRESENTATION OF THE CASE We report the case of a patient who had been treated for more than three years for a case of de Quervain's tenosynovitis due to tenderness in the first compartment of the right wrist joint. An X-ray on his first visit to a clinic was normal, but it was eventually discovered that he had an osteoid osteoma of the wrist. DISCUSSION The age of onset and gender proclivity of each disease should be considered. An X-ray should be taken in cases such as this, even to diagnose tendonitis. When any symptom, such as pain, has lingered for a long time and resisted treatment, we must reconsider the diagnosis. In patients with a low risk of tendonitis, it is essential to consider the possibility of other diseases if there is no improvement after treatment. As this patient's tumor was missed on the initial X-ray, it grew to a mature case of osteoid osteoma in three years. CONCLUSION We experienced a very educational case of osteoid osteoma of the wrist misdiagnosed as de Quervain's tenosynovitis.