Popliteal pseudoaneurysm secondary to osteochondroma of femur: Case report

Abstract

An 18 year old boy with no significant trauma presented with gradually developing swelling over right knee for 2 years. Recently he started noticing increased in size of swelling with pulsatile swelling over right knee. X-ray showed pedunculated bony outgrowth from distal femur suggesting osteochondroma but pulsatile nature of swelling was not explained. CT angiogram and MRI was done which showed large popliteal pseudoaneurysm and a spiked bone tumor arising from distal femur. Popliteal pseudoaneurysm secondary to osteochondroma was suspected and open surgery was done with pseudoaneurysm excision and end to end repair with tumor excision. There was no signs of recurrence or neurovascular involvement in 2 years follow up. Although rare, popliteal pseudoaneurysm should be in surgeons differential in a case of painful knee swelling/ pulsatile mass in adolescent even without history of injury and timely intervention should be done to prevent irreversible damage.