When is surgery necessary?

Surgery on the wrist ganglion is usually only considered if conservative treatments do not lead to the desired long-term success. In addition, early surgery is more often performed on people who work a lot with their hands and fingers. In some cases, the wishes of the affected person also play a role.

After some frustrating conservative therapy attempts, one can decide early on to have an operation. The risks of ganglion surgery are mainly related to the structures surrounding the ganglion. During surgery, the vessels and nerves running along the wrist can be injured.

Vascular damage leads to bleeding and in the worst case can cause permanent circulatory problems. Nerve lesions can cause loss of sensation, numbness and tingling. The motor function of the hand can also be impaired.

The motor disorder also occurs when tendons and muscles are injured. All these risks occur rather rarely.More often, typical complaints such as pain, wound healing disorders, bruises occur. An allergic reaction to the anesthetic is also possible.

Procedure of the surgery

The operation of the ganglion on the wrist can be performed under local or arm anaesthesia. Mostly endoscopic surgery is used, since only small incisions for the instruments have to be made. First, the access is prepared free up to the ganglion, then the ganglion is carefully cut out of the tissue.

In order to protect the many tendons, nerves and vessels as well as the capsule, very precise work is required. Then the stalk is followed to the joint capsule, tied off and the ganglion is removed completely. As a rule, the wrist is immobilized after the operation.

Sick leave after surgery

After an operation of the ganglion on the wrist, a longer sick leave of several weeks is recommended. Especially if persons are affected who work a lot with their hands, a downtime of up to two months can be expected. This is the only way to prevent early recurrence of overload. However, most people can return to work after a few weeks.