title: Endoscopic surgery for young athletes with symptomatic unicameral bone cyst of the calcaneus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Open curettage with bone graft has been the traditional surgical treatment for symptomatic unicameral calcaneal bone cyst. Endoscopic procedures have recently provided less invasive techniques with shorter postoperative morbidity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The authors' endoscopic procedure is effective for young athletes with symptomatic calcaneal bone cyst.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series; Level of evidence, 4.
  
  
  METHODS
  Of 16 young athletes with symptomatic calcaneal bone cyst, 13 underwent endoscopic curettage and percutaneous injection of bone substitute under the new method. Three patients were excluded because of short-term follow-up, less than 24 months. For the remaining 10 patients, with a mean preoperative 3-dimensional size of 23 × 31 × 35 mm as calculated by computed tomography, clinical evaluation was made with the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Ankle-Hindfoot Scale just before surgery and at the most recent follow-up (mean, 36.2 months; range, 24-51 months), and radiologic assessment was performed at the most recent follow-up, to discover any recurrence or pathologic fracture. Furthermore, the 10 patients-all of whom returned to sports activities-were asked how long it took to return to initial sports activity level after surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean ankle-hindfoot scale score improved from preoperative 78.7 ± 4.7 points (range, 74-87) to postoperative 98.0 ± 4.2 points (range, 90-100) (P < .001). Pain and functional scores significantly improved after surgery (P < .01 and P < .05, respectively). Radiologic assessment at most recent follow-up revealed no recurrence or pathologic fracture, with retention of injected calcium phosphate cement in all cases. All patients could return to their initial levels of sports activities within 8 weeks after surgery (mean period, 7.1 weeks; range, 4-8 weeks), which was quite early as compared with past reports.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Endoscopic curettage and injection of bone substitute appears to be an excellent option for young athletes with symptomatic calcaneal bone cyst for early return to sports activities, because it has the possibility to minimize the risk of postoperative pathologic fracture and local recurrence after early return to initial level of sports activities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Teikyo University School of Medicine, 2-22-1 Kaga, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan. inken@med.teikyo-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Innami
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takao
authors.forename: Wataru
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsushita
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D056352:Athletes; D001845:Bone Cysts / Q000601:surgery*; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D002111:Calcaneus / Q000601:surgery*; D003475:Curettage / Q000379:methods*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013177:Sports; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult