ChronOS inject in children with benign bone lesions--does it increase the healing rate?

OBJECTIVE

Benign bone lesions in children although rare, can result in a pathological fracture. Although their etiology and pathogenesis are not yet entirely clear, the phenomenon of spontaneous healing is well known. Nevertheless, some benign bone lesions are unlikely to heal spontaneously due to the patient's age or high risk of fracture and deformity due to the lesion's location or size. The following study presents our results after treatment of these bone cysts with chronOS Inject.

METHODS

From June 2004 to May 2007 23 patients with 24 benign bone cysts were treated with chronOS Inject, an injectable tricalcium phosphate, using a minimally invasive technique at two pediatric surgery departments. Postoperative follow-up examined bone healing, remodeling, chronOS Inject resorption and adverse effects.

RESULTS

15 males and 9 females, mean age 11 years at time of diagnosis, were treated with chronOS Inject. The humerus was affected 13 times, the femur 7 times, the tibia twice and the radius, the fibula and talus once each. Except for one case, all pathological fractures healed within five weeks post-injection. Two children had cystic residues. No severe adverse effects were seen.

CONCLUSIONS

These preliminary results indicate that chronOS Inject could provide an alternative treatment for benign bone cysts that are unlikely to heal spontaneously due to the patient's age, high risk of instability or pathological fracture due to the lesion's size or location, or lesions that have already been treated several times using other methods without success.