Background: The keratocystic odontogenic tumours (KCOTs) account for between about 2% and 11% of all jaw cysts and can occur at any age. They are more common in males than females with a male:female ratio of approximately 2:1. Although they are benign, KCOTs are locally very aggressive and have a tendency to recur after treatment, reported recurrence rates range from 3% to 60%. The traditional method for the treatment of most KCOTs is surgical enucleation. However, due to the lining of the cyst being delicate and the fact that they frequently recur, this method alone is not sufficient. Adjunctive surgical treatment has been proposed in addition to the surgical enucleation, such as removal of the peripheral bone (ostectomy) or resection of the cyst with surrounding bone (en-bloc) resection. Other adjunctive treatments proposed are: cryotherapy (freezing) with liquid nitrogen and the use of the fixative Carnoy's solution placed in the cyst cavity after enucleation; both of which attempt to address residual tissue to prevent recurrence.
Objectives: To assess the available evidence comparing the effectiveness of surgical interventions and adjuncts for the treatment of KCOTs.
Search strategy: Databases searched were: the Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register (to 28th July 2010), CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 3), MEDLINE (from 1950 to 28th July 2010), and EMBASE (from 1980 to 28th July 2010). The reference lists of all trials identified were cross checked for additional trials. There were no language restrictions and several articles were translated.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials comparing one modality of surgical intervention with another with or without adjunctive treatment for the treatment of KCOTs. Adults, over the age of 18 with a validated diagnosis of solitary KCOTs arising in the jaw bones of the maxilla or mandible. Patients with known Gorlin syndrome were to be excluded.
Data collection and analysis: Review authors screened trials for inclusion. Full papers were obtained for relevant and potentially relevant trials. If data had been extracted, it would have been synthesised using the fixed-effect model, if substantial clinical diversity were identified between studies we planned to use the random-effects model with studies grouped by action provided there were four or more studies included in the meta-analysis, and we would have explored the heterogeneity between the included studies.
Main results: No randomised controlled trials that met the inclusion criteria were identified.
Authors' conclusions: There are no published randomised controlled trials relevant to this review question, therefore no conclusions could be reached about the effectiveness or otherwise of the interventions considered in this review. There is a need for well designed and conducted randomised controlled trials to evaluate treatments for KCOTs.