Osteoid osteoma, an osteoblastic bone tumor, rarely involves the cervical spine. Clinically the most prominent feature is localized pain, which usually increases at night and responds well to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. At the same time, they may mimic malignant tumors in imaging, because they can cause severe inflammation and edema in the soft tissue albeit rarely. In this article, we present a 19-years-old case involving the cervical spine and mimicking a malignant tumor due to severe soft tissue inflammation.

Osteoid osteomas located in the cervical spine can cause localized neck pain as well as radicular pain due to the close proximity of the nidus to the nerve roots and severe soft tissue inflammation.

Surgical resection is a safe and successful method in cases where conservative treatment is inadequate and to confirm the diagnosis, as in our case. Fusion techniques should not be ignored in planning to maintain stability depending on the structures resected in surgical treatment.