Benign bone tumors in children.

When children present for evaluation of bone tumor, great anxiety often occurs among the family. Usually the diagnosis of a benign bone tumor can be made easily with plain radiographs without biopsy. Most have a good outcome. However, occasionally, serious complications can develop. Moreover, the physician must be aware of the possibility of the malignant tumors. To avoid errors in the evaluation and treatment of this heterogeneous group of tumors, the clinician should have a good knowledge base of common bone neoplasms and correlate the clinical, radiographic, and pathologic findings. In this article, history, diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, and management of common types of benign tumors of bone commonly seen in children and adolescents are reviewed in the light of current literature.