[Does additive spongiosaplasty improve outcome after surgical therapy for solitary enchondroma in the hand?].

INTRODUCTION: The necessity of spongiosaplasty in the treatment of solitary enchondroma in the hand has been a subject of controversial discussions for several years. Over a period of 10 years the authors performed single curettage without spongiosaplasty. The aim of this study was to investigate our results and to compare these findings with those of other studies. PATIENTS AND
METHOD: Over the last 10 years we have treated 106 patients with solitary enchondroma of the hand by single curettage without bone grafting. All patients underwent postoperative radiological examination. The mean follow-up was 34 months. The results of the X-ray investigation were examined retrospectively concerning the recurrence rates and the Hasselgren score.
RESULTS: Two patients (1.9%) have experienced radiological changes according to Hasselgren score IV. One patient (0.8%) demonstrated radiological III° changes according to score of Hasselgren. Including the patient with the radiological changes according to Hasselgren score III, the overall recurrence rate was 2.8%. DISCUSSION: After comparing our results with those of other studies, we conclude that additional bone-grafting does not improve the recurrence rate of solitary enchondromas of the hand. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.