Dawaa Reference

Clinical reference

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.