Phenol as an adjuvant in the control of local recurrence of benign neoplasms of bone treated by curettage.

Throughout the present century phenol has been used to "sterilise" the edges of cavities left in bone after the clearance of benign tumours in order to reduce the risk of local recurrence. The results have been analysed of 165 benign bone tumours capable of local recurrence (aneurysmal bone cyst, chondroblastoma, giant cell tumour) treated with and without the use of phenol. The overall recurrence rate was 41% in 98 cases treated by simple curettage and 7% in 27 cases treated by curettage followed by the application of phenol.