Arthroscopic resection of an osteochondroma of the knee.

We present a case of arthroscopic resection of a symptomatic periarticular osteochondroma of the knee. A competitive tennis athlete presented to our clinic at the beginning of the season with a contact lesion, a distal femoral osteochondroma, with a 3-year history of painful synovial inflammation and lateral patellar maltracking. She was treated symptomatically throughout the season until it was decided to perform surgery. The benign bone tumor, a sessile osteochondroma, was arthroscopically resected, which led to complete relief of symptoms and return to full competitive activity within 8 weeks. There has been no return of symptoms in 32 months of follow up. An arthroscopic resection of a symptomatic osteochondroma may be less painful, more cosmetically accepted, and result in quicker recovery than the traditional open incision approach.