Abstract
We identified thirteen patients with desmoplastic fibroma of bone treated at our institute over a 30 year period. The patients had a mean age of 25.9 years; eight were female. The incidence of desmoplastic fibroma of bone in all patients with benign bone tumours in our population is 0.003%. Surgical treatment ranged from primary amputation to intra-lesional curettage. The incidence of local recurrence was 15.4%. All cases of local recurrence after curettage or marginal excision demonstrated soft-tissue extension of their tumours on initial presentation suggesting that extra-osseous extension requires more radical surgery to control the disease. This study presents the largest single centre series of desmoplastic fibroma of bone with a mean follow-up time of 8 years. We recommend wide surgical excision, particularly if the lesion can be resected without significant loss of function, as the treatment modality of choice with the lowest rate of recurrence. Patients undergoing intra-lesional or marginal resection need to be advised of the possibility of local recurrence and the need for long-term surveillance.