Prevalence of Ganglion Cyst Formation After Wrist Arthroscopy: A Retrospective Longitudinal Analysis of 2420 Patients

Background: Dorsal wrist ganglion cysts arise from the leakage of synovial fluid through tears in the scapholunate ligament and/or dorsal wrist capsule. An analogous disruption of the dorsal capsule is created with routine portal placement during wrist arthroscopy. We hypothesized that wrist arthroscopy would predispose to wrist ganglions. Methods: Using the Truven MarketScan Outpatient Services Database from 2015 to 2016, patients who underwent wrist arthroscopy and developed an ipsilateral wrist ganglion were identified. Exclusion criteria included ganglion diagnosis preceding arthroscopy and bilateral pathology. Postoperative ganglion diagnosis was modeled with logistic regression. Predictor variables included age, gender, comorbidities, and arthroscopic procedure. Results: In all, 2420 patients underwent wrist arthroscopy. Thirty (1.24%) were diagnosed with an ipsilateral wrist ganglion at a mean time of 4.0 months (standard deviation: 2.4, range: 0.2-9.0). Significant predictors of ganglion diagnosis included female gender (odds ratio [OR]: 4.0, P < .01) and triangular fibrocartilage complex and/or joint debridement (OR: 0.13, P < .01). By comparison, among all 24,718,751 outpatients who had not undergone wrist arthroscopy, 39,832 patients had a diagnosis of a wrist ganglion cyst (0.16%). Conclusions: Wrist arthroscopy is associated with a postoperative rate of ganglion cyst formation that is nearly 8 times the rate in the general population. Additional studies are needed to investigate techniques that minimize the risk of this complication.