Abstract
Objective
To evaluate the therapeutic value, safety, and long-term clinical outcomes of percutaneous lumbar facet synovial cyst (LFSC) rupture.
Materials and methods
Our study was institutional review board (IRB)-approved and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant. The study group comprised 71 patients (44 women, mean age: 65 ± 17 years) who underwent CT- or fluoroscopy-guided percutaneous LFSC rupture. The technical success of LFSC rupture, the long-term clinical outcome, including repeat procedures or surgery, and imaging findings on MRI and CT were recorded.
Results
Seventy-nine LFSC ruptures were performed in 71 patients. CT guidance was used in 57 cases and fluoroscopy guidance in 22 cases. LFSC rupture was technically successful in 58 out of 79 cases (73 %). Mean injection volume for cyst rupture was 3.6 ± 2.2 mL and a combination of steroid and anesthetic was injected in all cases. Over a mean follow-up time of 44 months, 12 % of patients underwent repeat cyst rupture, and 46 % eventually underwent surgery, whereas the majority of patients (55 %) experienced symptomatic relief and did not undergo surgery. There was no significant association between a successful outcome and age, sex, level, or size of LFSC (p > 0.1). LFSCs with T2 hypointensity were more likely to require surgery (p = 0.02). There was one complication, a bacterial skin infection that completely resolved following antibiotic therapy.
Conclusion
Percutaneous LFSC rupture is an effective and safe nonsurgical treatment option for LFSC. More than half of treated patients were able to avoid subsequent surgery. Therefore, percutaneous LFSC rupture should be considered before surgical intervention.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Huang, A.J., Bos, S.A., Torriani, M. et al. Long-term outcomes of percutaneous lumbar facet synovial cyst rupture. Skeletal Radiol 46, 75–80 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-016-2513-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-016-2513-5