Treatment of a Brodie's abscess manifesting as persistent pain after a twisting ankle injury: A case report.

INTRODUCTION

Cystic lesions in long bones are the radiological presentation of various bone pathologies, they can easily be misdiagnosed and thus mistreated; treatment varies from observation to aggressive surgical interventions based on the nature and characteristics of the lesion.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 25-year-old male had a twisting injury to his ankle and his radiographs showed a cystic lesion in the distal tibia that was asymptomatic until he injured his ankle. he had persistent pain since then. and after conservative methods failure, a two-stage surgical intervention was done; first, we curetted the lesion and filled it with antibiotics cement; then the cement was removed with autologous bone grafting. The patient eventually healed and returned to his normal activity level.

DISCUSSION

Brodie's abscess has a similar radiological appearance to other bone neoplasms and tumor-like lesions. Clinically, it is minimally symptomatic, and often initially misdiagnosed; surgical treatment is very effective, but it depends on the size, location, and aggressiveness of the lesion; the goal is to eliminate the infection, refill the residual gap, and restore the normal function, especially in weight-bearing bones.

CONCLUSION

Brodie's abscess is a hideous lesion that is hard to diagnose. It could mimic other tumor-like lesions. However, applying bone cement and a second stage of bone grafting might help maximize the treatment efficiency.