Solitary bone cyst (SBC), a tumor-like lesion, is not rare. The treatment remains undecided, and various approaches (such as conservative, steroid injection, curettage with bone grafting, and curettage with cannulation) have been reported. As the pathogenesis of SBC of the calcaneus differs from that of SBC of long bones, the treatment needs to be altered accordingly.
We have treated 22 patients with SBC between 2003 and 2012. The locations of the lesions were the humerus in 2 cases, femur in 8, tibia in 1, fibula in 1, calcaneus in 6, iliac bone in 3, and pubic bone in 1. We surgically treated 10 of the 22 cases.
Lesions in the calcaneus were treated by curettage with bone grafting, and the patients have made satisfactory progress without recurrence.
Lesions in long bones tend to recur when in the active phase. The cannulated hydroxyapatite pin is recommended because of its higher success rate. We treated such cases using curettage plus cannulation, but recurrence was common.