Osteosarcoma

Persistent, focal bone pain in a child or adolescent deserves a different level of attention when it is accompanied by swelling, focal tenderness, night waking, or a limp. Osteosarcoma is uncommon, but the consequences of repeatedly treating this pattern as a sports injury or growing pains are substantial. The clinical task is not to diagnose the tumour from symptoms alone. It is to recognize the warning pattern, obtain appropriate imaging, protect the involved limb, and arrange specialist assessment without creating a poorly planned biopsy tract. MRI, tissue diagnosis, staging, chemotherapy, and local control must be coordinated through a sarcoma service.