title: Comparison of phenol and argon beam coagulation as adjuvant therapies in the treatment of stage 2 and 3 benign-aggressive bone tumors.
abstract: Argon beam photocoagulation has gained popularity as an adjuvant therapy for the treatment of giant cell tumors of bone and other stage 2 or 3 benign-aggressive bone tumors. Although argon beam photocoagulation has been considered a safe and reasonable adjuvant treatment with acceptable recurrence rates, it has never been directly compared with the commonly described phenol as adjuvant. The purpose of this study was to determine whether argon beam photocoagulation is as effective as phenol in preventing recurrence without affecting functional outcome as an adjuvant to surgical curettage. We retrospectively reviewed 93 consecutive patients with a minimum 10-month follow-up between 1992 and 2007 who were treated with curettage and either phenol or argon beam photocoagulation. Functional outcomes and complications were recorded. Overall, 16 (17.2%) of 93 patients who were initially treated with 1 of the adjuvants had pathologically confirmed recurrences. No additional recurrences were noted after retreatment, leading to an overall recurrence rate of 17.1% with phenol and 14.8% with argon beam photocoagulation (P=.726). While avoiding the toxic effects of phenol, argon beam photocoagulation provides for statistically equivalent recurrence rates, functional outcomes, and complication rates in the treatment of benign-aggressive bone tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Division of Musculoskeletal Oncology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey–New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benevenia
authors.forename: Francis R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: Kathleen S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Beebe
authors.forename: Mina M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Abdelshahed
authors.forename: Anthony D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Uglialoro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D057908:Argon Plasma Coagulation / Q000379:methods*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003475:Curettage / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019800:Phenol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012597:Sclerosing Solutions / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D012597:Sclerosing Solutions; D019800:Phenol