Efficacy of Percutaneous Treatment of Primary Aneurysmal Bone Cysts (ABCs): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background: Percutaneous treatment for primary aneurysmal bone cysts (ABCs) has been widely accepted. The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of various sclerotherapy agents on patients with primary ABCs. Methods: A meta-analysis of relevant studies. A systematic search was conducted on five databases, resulting in the inclusion of 25 studies with different percutaneous agents. Results: A total of 729 patients with primary ABCs were included. Patients were administered with Ethibloc, doxycycline, embolization, alcohol, polidocanol, and calcitonin with methylprednisolone, respectively. Overall, 542 (74.3%) patients with ABCs had complete healing, 120 (16.4%) had partial healing, 44 (6%) had no-ossification or failure, and 26 (3.5%) had a recurrence. However, there was a total of 45 (6.1%) patients who had surgical curettage after sclerotherapy. Among the sclerotherapy agents, doxycycline showed highly effective results with minimal complications and recurrence, but it required multiple injections per patient. Ethibloc and embolization also proved to be highly effective with fewer injections required but had a higher rate of complications. Absolute alcohol, polidocanol, and calcitonin with methylprednisolone had similar efficacity and favorable success with fewer complications and fewer injections. Conclusion: Percutaneous treatment showed promising results in treating primary ABCs. However, more robust research is needed to establish the best approach for sclerotherapy in clinical practice and to address the limitations of the current literature.