Conservative Management of Odontogenic Keratocyst in a Tertiary Hospital

Odontogenic keratocysts (OKCs) are benign intraosseous odontogenic lesions that have a locally aggressive behavior and exhibit a high recurrence rate after the treatment. The most appropriate surgical approaches for the successful treatment of OKCs remain controversial.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the conservative management of OKCs by enucleation along with peripheral ostectomy and chemical cauterization in terms of recurrence rates after the surgical procedure.

A retrospective study on 36 cases of OKCs treated at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of a tertiary hospital from 2010 to 2017 was done. The demographic, clinical, radiographic, and histologic data were collected for each patient. All cases were surgically treated by enucleation followed by peripheral ostectomy and chemical cauterization using Carnoy's solution. The teeth that were involved in the lesion were extracted. The diagnosis was confirmed with excisional biopsy and histopathology reports.

Most of the OKCs were found in the mandible, except three which were present in the maxilla. A significantly higher incidence was seen in males in the age group of 21-30 years. Most of the cases (30 out of 36 cases) were accessed intraorally. Patients were followed up for up to 5 years. Recurrence of the operated OKCs was observed in five cases which were managed by enucleation with peripheral ostectomy and chemical cauterization again with good results.

The results suggest that proper enucleation followed by peripheral ostectomy and chemical cauterization using Carnoy's solution may be the best and optimal approach for the management of OKC.