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. 2018 Dec 5;18(1):113.
doi: 10.1186/s12893-018-0450-z.

Synovial cysts of the hip joint: a single-center experience

Jingjing Wang  1 , Jiang Shao  1 , Chenyang Qiu  1 , Yu Chen  1 , Bao Liu  2
Affiliations

Synovial cysts of the hip joint: a single-center experience

Jingjing Wang et al. BMC Surg. .

Abstract

Background: Synovial cyst of the hip joint is a rare clinical condition in need of evidence-based guidelines for its diagnosis and management. Normally, synovial cyst of the hip joint requires no treatment, but when it intrudes into surrounding structures, various clinical symptoms appear. Because of its rarity, a symptomatic synovial cyst is often confounded with a tumor as a space-occupying lesion or with other diseases, depending on its various clinical presentations. Therefore, guidelines for the precise diagnosis and appropriate management for synovial cyst of the hip joint are required.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 7 cases of symptomatic synovial cyst of the hip joint, some of which showed lower limb edema due to mass effect. We compared physical exam findings on presentation, imaging findings, and size and location of the cyst.

Results: All cases were managed successfully with surgical excision. We found that, instead of the size of the cyst, the location of the cyst was an important contributor to venous compression. The recurrence rate was 0%, and some patients have significantly long follow-up of 2 years, 4 years, 6 years and 10 years, respectively.

Conclusions: For symptomatic synovial cyst of the hip joint, surgical excision can successfully resolve the symptoms without recurrence. This retrospective study discusses the clinical presentations, diagnostic approaches, and surgical treatment of symptomatic synovial cyst of the hip joint, hence shedding more light on the clinical management of this condition.

Keywords: Lower limb edema; Surgical excision; Synovial cyst.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Institutional Review Board of Peking Union Medical College Hospital approved this study and written informed consent was obtained from the participants.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declared that they had no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Image data and pathology result for patient NO.1. a. A CT showed a cystic space-occupying lesion (black arrow) in the inguinal region. b. At surgery, the synovial cyst (black arrow) was observed directly communicating with the hip joint. c. The pathology result confirmed a synovial cyst
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Image data and pathology result for patient NO.2. a. A CT and b. and c. MRI showed a cystic space-occupying lesion (white arrow) in the inguinal region, leading to severe stenosis of the common femoral vein. d. The pathology result confirmed a synovial cyst
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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