[Juvenile bone cysts. Relative value and therapy results of cortisone injections].

Seventy-one children and adolescents with unicameral bone cysts were treated between 1982 and 1992. Fifty-one percent were in the proximal humerus, 34% in the femur, 10% in the tibia, and only 5% in other sites. Until 1986 biopsies were routinely done. Since then, only selected cases have been biopsied because of uncertainty in the radiological diagnosis. In 70% the diagnosis was a pathological fracture as a result of the cyst. Cortisone injections were introduced in 1982. It replaced currettage and bone grafting, which was the routine treatment until then. Ninety-two percent of the cysts healed or healed with residuals according to the Neer classification. Additional osteosynthesis was done in pathological fractures of the femoral neck. The results are achieved with little morbidity, and low cost which justifies continuation of this treatment protocol.