Efficacy of aspiration and autogenous bone marrow injection in the treatment of simple bone cysts

Twenty eight patients with simple bone cyst that were treated by aspiration and percutaneous autogenous bone marrow injection were reviewed to evaluate the treatment outcome. There were 18 boys and ten girls. Their mean age was 10.9 ± 2.75 years. Single injection was performed for 16 patients; the rest had double or triple injections. There were no operative complications. The mean follow-up was 34.7 ± 6.87 months. The procedure succeeded in obtaining healing in 23 cysts (82%). Cysts with index of more than five and cortical thickness of less than 1 mm were significantly prone to pathological fractures and had significant poor results after treatment. Our results suggested that autogenous bone marrow injection is a safe and effective treatment method for simple bone cysts, but sometimes repeated injections are necessary. Cyst index and cortical thickness are good indicators for cyst aggressiveness and good predictors for treatment outcome.