Objective: Ganglion cysts, the most common benign soft tissue tumors, are most often located in the wrist. This study describes successful surgical outcomes of wrist ganglion cyst treatment, and provides guidance related to an adequate excision.
Materials and Methods: A total of 74 patients (46 females and 28 males, aged 18–46 years) treated operatively for a wrist ganglion cyst between January 2018 and January 2020 were included in the study. The surgical results were evaluated after a minimum 12-month follow-up period. Details of patient sex, age, affected limb, preoperative symptoms, cyst location and complications, the severity of pain, and postsurgical recurrence rate were recorded. The pain, recurrence rate, and localiza-tion data were analyzed statistically.
Results: The mean patient age was 26.15±6.61 years and the mean length of follow-up was 22.55±7.97 months. The cysts studied were located in the dorsal (n=53, 71.6%), volar (n=19, 25.7%), or ulnar aspect of the wrist (n=2, 2.7%). The 12-month postoperative follow-up visits revealed that 70 (94.6%) patients had developed no symptoms. The preoperative and postoperative mean visual analog scale score was 6.07±1.07 and 2.03±0.89, respectively.
Conclusion: Operative treatment is a widely recognized method of management for wrist ganglion cysts. The results of this study indicated that a careful and appropriate capsule excision reduced the rate of persistent symptoms and recurrence in ganglion cyst surgery.