Dawaa Reference

chronic

Ganglion cyst

Treatment options, dosing, cautions and Egyptian brands from the shipped Dawaa Reference card.

Evidence status

Checked against the sources named below

Sources3 sources

Ganglion Cyst - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (NBK470168) - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470168/ · ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) class LD72.09 - condition scope only, no dose · No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Verified against1 document
  • No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Verified date2026-08

Presentation reference

Is it this?

Reference only, to read alongside your own examination.

Symptoms — what the patient reports (3)

  • Most ganglion cysts cause no symptoms; some patients seek care mainly for the cosmetic appearance [cyst]
  • Pain, tenderness, or weakness that worsens with wrist movement can occur
  • A volar wrist cyst can compress the median nerve causing carpal tunnel symptoms or trigger finger, or affect the ulnar nerve or radial artery [cyst]

Signs — what you find (2)

  • On exam it is a firm, mobile, well-defined mass roughly 1 to 3 cm, tethered to deep tissue but not the skin [skin nodule]
  • The mass typically transilluminates when a light is shone through it

Tests (3)

  • X-rays are sometimes ordered to exclude bone involvement but usually show nothing abnormal
  • MRI is reserved for concern of a solid tumor, showing a well-defined mass with uniform fluid signal on T2 sequences
  • Ultrasound distinguishes it from a vascular malformation and helps avoid puncturing the radial artery during needle aspiration

If not this — what else fits (9)

  • Aneurysmal bone cyst
  • Chondroblastoma
  • Chondromyxoid fibroma
  • Enchondroma
  • Giant cell tumor of bone
  • Nonossifying fibroma
  • Osteoid osteoma
  • Osteoblastoma
  • Simple bone cyst

SourceStatPearls "Ganglion Cyst" - disease-level clinical article

Presentation findings are traced to the source above.

1

NO DRUG THERAPY IN PRIMARY CARE (REFERRAL & ADVICE)

1st line
Adult dose and duration

A benign, fluid-filled swelling arising from a tendon sheath, ligament, or joint capsule, most often at the wrist; many resolve spontaneously, and aspiration or surgical excision is done if symptomatic or cosmetically bothersome — analgesia is only for associated discomfort. - Refer, with advice

Paediatric dose

Children follow the same pathway: recognise and refer. No primary-care medicine is implied.

Dose source

No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Why

A benign, fluid-filled swelling arising from a tendon sheath, ligament, or joint capsule, most often at the wrist; many resolve spontaneously, and aspiration or surgical excision is done if symptomatic or cosmetically bothersome — analgesia is only for associated discomfort.

Cautions
  • Rapid growth, pain out of proportion to the lesion, or signs of nerve/vessel compression — distinguish from other soft tissue masses before assuming it is a simple ganglion.
  • No medicine is prescribed for this in primary care - this entry is for recognition and referral. Anything given is decided by the service it is referred to.

Prices are indicative (dataset snapshot 2026-06); verify with the pharmacy.