Aneurysmal bone cyst: A review of management

Aneurysmal bone cyst is a rare lesion that is most often found in young adults and children. It can have an unpredictable behavior, with a high recurrence rate after treatment. Treatment is based on personal and institutional experience and preferences. Standard treatment consists of curettage (manual + motorized high-speed burr) plus local adjuvants and bone grafting to fill the void. In anatomical locations that are difficult to reach surgically, percutaneous procedures (injection of sclerosant agents, radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFTA)) or selective arterial embolization (SAE) are used. Medical management with bisphosphonates (BPs) or denosumab has also been advocated. Minimally invasive surgical procedures such as "curopsy" and percutaneous demineralized bone matrix (DBM) and/or autologous bone marrow concentrate (BMC) grafting have also been proposed. SAE is used as a pre-operative procedure to reduce intra-operative bleeding in the case of large lesions and as primary treatment for spinal lesions. The purpose of this review is to present currently available options for the management of aneurysmal bone cyst.