Health education with pictures 05: Ganglion/Ganglia

in #health-status6 years ago (edited)

In this series, I am going to provide some information about our health along with pictures of some commonly seen medical conditions. Today's topic is

Ganglion/Ganglia


What are ganglia?

Ganglia are firm cystic lumps found adjacent to a joint on the synovial sheath or on the tendons and ligaments sheath. These are most commonly seen on the dorsum (back) of the wrist joint (60-70% cases) or hand and dorsum (upper part) of the foot. In the majority of the cases, these arise from the dorsal scapholunate ligament.

ganglion.jpg
A ganglion on the back of right wrist joint (Image from Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine-9th Edition)

How do you know that you are having a ganglion?

  • A lump (or lumps) - deep beneath the skin (subcutaneous). It may be painful or painless.
  • In most of the cases, it will be around joints or on the tendon or on the ligaments. As mentioned before, 60-70% cases, it will be around your wrist joint
  • It will be immobile; fixed with underlying structures (tendons, ligaments or synovial sheaths) [more or less mobility is present in lipoma; similar lumps found in various parts of our body)
  • Recurrence is common; it may disappear spontaneously and come back again

What are the treatment options of ganglion?

  • It can be left untouched - wait and see. Do not ‘bang with a Bible’ [ Interestingly, it is also called “Bible cysts” because in the past, as a treatment option, people used to hit a ganglion with a Bible or a large book. You can see this video of Bible Bump Removal ]
  • Needle aspiration and steroid injection
  • Surgical excision

See the following video about Needle aspiration of a wrist ganglion

Reference:
John Murtagh’s General Practice-6th Edition; page: 722 & 1372
Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine-9th Edition; page: 596


Read my previous posts on health education with picture series:



Presents Useful Medical Questions and Answers for medical personals



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