Often, at the doctor’s appointment, patients hear an incomprehensible diagnosis - exostosis. What it is? How serious can such a disease be? What are the causes of its occurrence? These questions are of interest to many people who have faced a similar problem.
Exostosis - what is it?
Exostosis is nothing more than a growth on the surface of the bone. By the way, such neoplasms can have different sizes and shapes. For example, there are growths in the form of a mushroom or cauliflower. Bone exostosis consists of a compact spongy tissue.
In some cases, growths are formed from cartilage. Although, it is worth noting that the term "cartilaginous exostosis" is a little incorrect. Yes, the neoplasm arises from the cartilaginous elements, but then it bones, turning into a spongy tissue. And its surface is covered with hyaline cartilage, which, in fact, is a growth zone.
Exostosis and the causes of its formation
In fact, the reasons for the formation of such a growth can be different. As a rule, neoplasms are the result of excessive tissue growth at the site of a bone injury - this is often observed with fractures, cracks, surgery, etc.
But there are other risk factors. According to statistics, similar problems are most often encountered by children and adolescents, which is often associated with physiological characteristics, namely, growth intensity. In addition, hereditary relationships are often monitored. In addition, various chronic inflammatory bone diseases can be attributed to the causes . Sometimes growths appear on the background of fibrositis and inflammation of the mucous bags. The cause may be bone chondromatosis, as well as aseptic necrosis. Quite often, exostoses develop in people suffering from congenital malformations of the skeleton. In addition, growths may indicate a benign bone tumor, as a complication. It is worth noting that far from always doctors manage to find out the causes and origin of the disease.
Main symptoms
In most cases, growths do not cause a person any discomfort. The disease is asymptomatic and is detected by accident during a routine examination. However, some people have symptoms that help diagnose exostosis. What are these symptoms?
First of all, it is worth noting the discomfort and soreness that occurs when movements, pressure on the bone or physical stress (depending on the location of exostoses). The intensity of these symptoms, as a rule, increases with the growth of the neoplasm. If the growth is located closer to the joint, it can significantly limit the range of motion. Quite often, exostosis can be palpated, sometimes even on its own.
Modern diagnostic methods
In fact, such a disease is relatively easy to diagnose. The doctor may suspect the presence of a growth even during the examination of the patient, since neoplasms in some places are easily felt under the skin. In addition, the history and symptoms present play an important role in the diagnosis.
To confirm the diagnosis, the patient is prescribed an x-ray examination. Exostosis is easy to see in the picture. By the way, the actual size of the growth, as a rule, is several millimeters larger, since the cartilage tissue is not visible on the x-ray image.
In some cases, more research is required. This is especially true in cases where the growth is rapidly increasing in size, because there is always the possibility of malignant degeneration of cells. In such cases, patients are prescribed a biopsy during which tissue samples are taken with further cytological laboratory examination.
Treatment methods
In fact, in modern medicine there is only one method of treatment - surgical removal of exostosis. Naturally, not every patient needs surgical intervention. After all, as already mentioned, quite often such growths do not pose any threat to health, and the disease even proceeds without any visible symptoms. Surgical removal of exostosis is necessary if the tumor is larger or grows too fast. In addition, the indication for surgery is severe pain and movement problems. Some patients agree to have surgery if the growth is a severe cosmetic defect.
Modern methods of medicine can get rid of neoplasms in the shortest possible time. Bone exostosis is removed through a small incision 1-2 cm long. Such an operation is considered minimally invasive, does not require special preparation, lengthy hospitalization and rehabilitation - as a rule, after a few days after the procedure, people begin to gradually return to their usual lives.
Bone exostosis and possible complications
As already mentioned, in some cases, even a small bone growth can lead to a lot of problems and affect the quality of life. Moreover, there are some complications that exostosis is fraught with. What are these problems? To begin with, it is worth noting that a greatly enlarged neoplasm often abuts against neighboring bones, which leads to their gradual deformation. Complications also include fractures of the leg of exostosis, which, however, is extremely rare. But the greatest danger remains the risk of malignant degeneration. In some patients, the appearance of such a growth was a harbinger of the appearance of a tumor - most often the cancer affects the bones of the pelvis and hips, as well as the vertebrae and scapula.