Osteochondroma is usually asymptomatic. Only when the tumor increases in size can there be symptoms.
The following symptoms and complaints may indicate osteochondroma:
- Swelling of the affected area, not painful.
- Pain in the adjacent muscles
- Restriction of movement – bending and/or extending ability of the affected joint may be impaired
- Pressure-sensitive bursa over the affected area (bursa exostotica).
- Too small age-appropriate body size
- Asymmetrical growth in length of arms or legs, respectively.
- When localized in the back of the knee:
Localization
Typical of primary bone tumors is that they can be assigned to a characteristic localization in addition to a specific age range. They arise clustered at the sites of most intense longitudinal growth (metaepiphyseal / joint area).
The following questions should be answered by diagnostic measures:
- Localization in the skeleton → Which bone is affected?
- Localization in the bone → epiphysis* (joint end of the bone (near the joint)), metaphysis* (transition from epiphysis to diaphysis), diaphysis* (long bone shaft), central, eccentric (not central), cortical (at the solid outer shell of the bone), extracortical, intraarticular (within the joint capsule).
Osteochondroma can occur in all bones, but is most commonly located in the metaphysis of the long tubular bones of the humerus (humerus; proximal/midline), femur (femur; distal/away from midline), and tibia (tibia/proximal), and often near the knee joint.
* Example of the structure of a long bone: epiphysis – metaphysis – diaphysis – metaphysis – epiphysis.
