Comparison of three treatment methods for simple bone cyst in children

Abstract

Background Unicameral bone cyst (UBC) is a benign tumor whose clinical treatments and efficacy are controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the elastic stable intramedullary nail (ESIN), the injection of autologous bone marrow (ABM) and the combination of ESIN and ABM in the treatment of simple bone cyst of children.Methods 83 children with simple bone cyst were analyzed retrospectively. 28 cases were treated with ABM. 28 cases were treated with ESIN. 27 cases were treated with ABM and ESIN. All cases were diagnosed through X-ray, CT or MRI scans. For the suspicious ones, pathological biopsy was performed for an accurate diagnosis. X-ray examinations were carried out for the postoperative follow-up. Capanna criteria for bone cyst was used for the postoperative evaluation of the three methods.Results All the cases accomplished the follow-up. The effective rate of ABM+ESIN group was significantly higher than that of the ABM group (P<0.05), and the cure rates of ESIN group and ABM+ESIN group were higher than that of ABM group (P<0.05, respectively). The cure time in ESIN group was lower than that of the other two groups (P<0.05, respectively). The times for admission were 2.0±0.0 in ESIN group, 5.7±1.9 in ABM group and 4.7±2.4 in ABM+ESIN group (P<0.05 when compared with each other).Conclusions The method of ABM combined with ESIN for children bone cyst has the highest effective and curative rates. For individual method, ESIN has a higher effective rate and curative rate than that of ABM with the lowest time of admission.