Health education with pictures 05: Ganglion/Ganglia

hafiz34 (66)in #health-status • 6 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.

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