Treatment of simple bone cysts in children with curettage and cryosurgery

A retrospective study in children with simple or unicameral bone cysts treated with curettage, cryosurgery, and bone grafting was conducted. The purpose of this study was to evaluate local tumor control and bony healing after this method of treatment. Five (12%) of 42 treated patients had a local recurrence with a mean clinical follow-up of 24.5 months. Surgical complications consisted of two superficial wound infections, one radial nerve palsy, and two fractures, which all resolved completely. A review of the literature was performed to compare our results with historic controls using steroid-injection therapy and curettage with bone grafting alone. We believe that the use of cryosurgery as adjuvant therapy in the surgical treatment of simple bone cysts is of value in controlling local recurrences and achieving bony consolidation.