Editorial Commentary: To Cyst or Not to Cyst: Shoulder SLAP Lesions With Concomitant Spinoglenoid Notch Ganglion Cysts

Abstract

When a patient presents with shoulder pain and the workup reveals a spinoglenoid notch cyst, it is presumed by most to be related to an intra-articular SLAP tear. When managing this condition cyst excision has been advocated to alleviate suprascapular nerve pressure and also perhaps minimize recurrence assuming that the SLAP has also been treated. Cyst excision can endanger the suprascapular nerve and takes additional operating room time. The question is whether repairing the SLAP and therefore removing the starting point for the cyst would be adequate as the only surgical management. My preference is to leave the operating room with some indication that the pressure on the suprascapular nerve has been dealt with by at least decompressing the cyst. But on the basis of recent published experience, we may need to re-evaluate this.