Problematic Imaging Diagnostics of Musculoskeletal Gossypiboma with Chronic Expanding Hematoma Mimicking Malignant Lesion

Abstract

Both musculoskeletal gossypibomas and chronic expanding hematomas have been rarely reported; the reports that do exist are usually case reports. Our objective is to demonstrate problematic imaging diagnostics of an unusual presentation mimicking a malignant lesion. We report the case of a 47-year-old man who underwent bone graft harvesting from the iliac crest for spinal fusion due to scoliosis at 18 years of age, and 29 years later, he developed a growing, painful tumor at the original donor site (a bone defect in the iliac crest). It was challenging to differentiate a hematoma from a malignant tumor based solely on clinical and radiological workup, including an ultrasound-guided needle biopsy focused on viable tissue. The definitive diagnosis of a gossypiboma with a chronic expanding hematoma was based on histopathological assessment after wide surgical resection—a chronic expanding hematoma with multiple foamy macrophages and giant cells engulfing foreign material (original surgical hemostatic sponge).