Spontaneous healing of a juvenile bone cyst of the tibia after a pathological fracture

Up to the present only few cases of spontaneous healing of juvenile bone cy sts after pathological fractures were published. Most authors will not acce pt the possibility of a "healing fracture" in bone cysts because of missing documentation. In our clinic we could observe spontaneous healing of a juv enile bone cyst of the tibia after a pathological fracture in a ten-year ol d boy. Therefore healing of bone cysts after fracture is proven. On the oth er hand healing of bone cysts following conservative treatment after a frac ture is not sure. Conservative treatment depends on the localization and ty pe of the fracture. We recommend nonoperative treatment of first pathologic al fractures in small-sized bone cysts. This kind of treatment can be espec ially advised for young patients up to the tenth year because there are onl y few complications in fracture healing and a relatively high recurrence ra te following operative treatment. In case of a refracture there are better conditions for fracture healing after surgery.