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Juvenile bone cysts required fewer surgeries when treated with tricalcium phosphate vs. methylprednisolone
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MADRID — For the treatment of juvenile bone cysts, tricalcium phosphate application using a minimally invasive technique achieved statistically better results than methylprednisolone injection, according to orthopaedic investigators.
“We hope the calcium phosphate injection will henceforth dramatically reduce the number of complications and recurrences and will shorten the hospital stay of children with juvenile bone cyst,” Ladislav Planka, MD, PhD, head of education and senior pediatric surgeon, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Faculty Hospital Brno, Czech Republic, told Orthopaedics Today Europe in an interview prior to the presentation of the study at the 2010 EFORT Congress.
Planka and colleagues evaluated the effects of the two methods in a series of 44 patients with juvenile bone cysts: 20 patients were treated with tricalcium phosphate, and 24 patients were treated with “the established method of a series of methylprednisolone injections,” according to the study abstract.
Assessment of outcomes
Two patients in the tricalcium phosphate group required a subsequent surgery, compared with 19 in the methylprednisolone group. In the tricalcium phosphate group, average length of hospital stay was 4 days, compared with 6.5 days in the methylprednisolone group. In the tricalcium phosphate group, excellent and good results according to Neer classification were documented in 18 patients, compared with 12 in the methylprednisolone group, the investigators reported in their abstract.
Treatment recommendation
“In our study group, we obtained decidedly better treatment results with tricalcium phosphate, no major complications and shorter hospital stay. So we can only recommend tricalcium phosphate injection,” Planka said. “Of course, some patients would benefit from methylprednisolone too, but the probability of good results after the first surgery is lower.”
Planka stated that he is currently involved in another study that combines tricalcium phosphate and mesenchymal stem cells, which he expects will accelerate bone healing.
- Reference:
Planka L, Ondrus S, Straka M, et al. Tricalcium phosphate in the treatment of juvenile bone cysts in children. Paper #837. To be presented at the 2010 EFORT Congress. June 2-5, 2010. Madrid.
This work was supported by the Internal Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic (NS9860-3/2008).