Published online Oct 18, 2015. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v6.i9.688
Peer-review started: April 24, 2015
First decision: June 9, 2015
Revised: July 13, 2015
Accepted: September 7, 2015
Article in press: September 8, 2015
Published online: October 18, 2015
Processing time: 182 Days and 0.5 Hours
This article presents a narrative review of cystic lesions around the hip and primarily consists of 5 sections: Radiological examination, prevalence, pathogenesis, symptoms, and treatment. Cystic lesions around the hip are usually asymptomatic but may be observed incidentally on imaging examinations, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Some cysts may enlarge because of various pathological factors, such as trauma, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, or total hip arthroplasty (THA), and may become symptomatic because of compression of surrounding structures, including the femoral, obturator, or sciatic nerves, external iliac or common femoral artery, femoral or external iliac vein, sigmoid colon, cecum, small bowel, ureters, and bladder. Treatment for symptomatic cystic lesions around the hip joint includes rest, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug administration, needle aspiration, and surgical excision. Furthermore, when these cysts are associated with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and THA, primary or revision THA surgery will be necessary concurrent with cyst excision. Knowledge of the characteristic clinical appearance of cystic masses around the hip will be useful for determining specific diagnoses and treatments.
Core tip: The purpose of the present paper is to review clinical features of cystic lesions around the hip joint. Ultrasound, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are useful modalities for detection of cystic lesions, but it is difficult to distinguish pathological differences between ganglion cysts and synovial cysts, including bursae. Although cysts around the hip are usually asymptomatic, enlargement of these cysts may cause pain and/or compression of the surrounding structures, such as nerves and vessels. Treatment of these cysts depends on their size, the severity of symptoms, and the nature of the underlying disease.