Recurrent burner syndrome due to presumed cervical spine osteoblastoma in a collision sport athlete – a case report^[*]

Abstract

We present a case of a 35-year-old active rugby player presenting with a history of recurrent burner syndrome thought secondary to an osteoblastoma involving the posterior arch of the atlas. Radiographically, the lesion had features typical for a large osteoid osteoma or osteoblastoma, including osseous expansion, peripheral sclerosis and bony hypertrophy, internal lucency, and even suggestion of a central nidus. The patient subsequently underwent an en bloc resection of the posterior atlas via a standard posterior approach. The surgery revealed very good clinical results.

In this report, we will discuss in detail, the presentation, treatment, and return to play recommendations involving this patient.

^*This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

• References

• 1 Leivitz CL, Reilly PJ, Torg JS. The pathomechanics of chronic, recurrent cervical nerve root neurapraxia. The chronic burner syndrome. Am J Sports Med 1997; 25 (1) 73-6 10.1177/036354659702500114 9006696
• 2 Speer CL, Basset FH. The prolonged burner syndrome. Am J Sports Med 1990; 18 (6) 591-4 10.1177/036354659001800606 2285087
• 3 Maroon JC, Bailes JE. Athletes with cervical spine injury. Spine 1996; 21: 2294-2299 10.1097/00007632-199610010-00025 8902979
• 4 Torg JS, Pavlov H, Genuario SE, Sennet B, Wisneski RJ, Robie BH, Jahre C. Neurapraxia of the cervical spinal cord withtransient quadriplegia. J Bone Joint Surg Am 1986; 68 (9) 1354-70 3782207
• 5 Torg JS. Cervical spinal stenosis with cord neurapraxia and transient quadriplegia. Sports Med 1995; 20 (6) 429-34 Review 8614762
• 6 Castro Jr FP, Ricciardi J, Brunet ME, Bush MT, Whitecloud III TS. Stingers, the Torg ratio and the cervical spine. Am J Sports Med 1997; 25 (5) 603-8 10.1177/036354659702500503 9302463
• 7 Vaccaro AR, Klein GR, Ciccoti M, Pfaff WL, Moulton MJ, Hilibrand AJ, Watkins B. Return to play criteria for the athlete with cervical spine injuries resulting in stinger and transient quadriplegia/paresis. Spine J 2002; 2 (5) 351-6 10.1016/S1529-9430(02)00202-4 14589466
• 8 Vaccaro AR, Watkins B, Albert TJ, Pfaff WL, Klein GR, Silver JS. Cervical spine injuries in athletes: current return-to-play criteria. [Review]. Orthopaedics 2001; 24 (7) 699-703
• 9 Rushton JG, Mulder DW, Lipscomb PR. Neurologic symptoms with osteoid osteoma. Neurolog 1955; 5: 794-797
• 10 Raskas D, Graziano G, Herzenberg J, Heidelberger KP, Hensinger RN. Osteoid osteoma and osteoblastoma of the spine. J Spinal Disorders 1992; 5 (2) 204-11