The optimal treatment of aneurysmal bone cysts remains an area of debate. Curettage, with or without adjuvant therapy, has
been advocated for tumors in most locations. To evaluate argon beam coagulation as adjuvant therapy to curettage, we retrospectively
analyzed the complication and recurrence rates in 40 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of aneurysmal bone cyst. For our
analysis of recurrence, we excluded six of the 40 patients who were lost to followup or had less than 18 months followup;
five patients treated with resection also were excluded. Of the remaining 29 patients, 17 were treated with curettage and
argon beam coagulation and 12 were treated with curettage with or without phenol. None of the 17 patients treated with curettage
and argon beam coagulation had a recurrence, whereas four patients treated without argon beam coagulation had recurrences.
There were no differences between patients treated with or without argon beam coagulation regarding frequencies of intraoperative
complications, neurovascular injury, or bone graft incorporation. Argon beam coagulation seems to offer favorable control
rates when compared with curettage with or without phenol. No complications have been experienced thus far with its use.
Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Each author certifies that he has no commercial associations (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patient/licensing
arrangements, etc) that pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.
Each author certifies that his institution has approved the human protocol for this investigation and that all investigations
were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research.