Can ethanol be used as an adjuvant to extended curettage in order to reduce the recurrence rate of aneurysmal bone cyst?☆

OBJECTIVE The best treatment of aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) is still unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of extended curettage and ethanol as an adjuvant to reduce local recurrence of ABCs. METHODS Retrospectively, 68 cases treated for primary and secondary ABCs caused by benign tumors from 2003 to 2013 were enrolled to a follow-up visit between one to ten years after the surgery. The treatment protocol was en-bloc resection, biopsy and curettage, extended curettage consisted of curettage, high-speed burring, ethanol 96%, and electrocauterization (combined four-step alcohol-using approach) followed by defect filling, consecutively. RESULTS Among 36 patients with primary ABCs (16 male, 20 female, mean age of 16 years, range 3-46 years), 29 cases were treated with the combined four-step alcohol-using approach, four patients with resection, and three with biopsy and curettage. Thirty-two cases had secondary ABCs on benign lesions (17 male, 15 female). The recurrence rate was 5.88 in all primary and secondary ABC cases; two recurrences among 29 patients with primary ABCs (6.9%) and one recurrence among the 22 cases with secondary ABCs (4.5%). CONCLUSIONS It could be suggested that the combined four-step alcohol-using approach may result in a very low recurrence rate of primary and secondary ABC lesions.