The research was conducted by a team led by Dr. Steven Knafo of the Université of Paris-Descartes, and consisted of a review of 23 spinal synovial cyst patients who had surgery at a single institution in the period from 2004 to 2010. The four categories of surgical procedures considered by the researchers included cystectomy via an inter-laminar approach (11 patients), via hemi-laminectomy (eight patients), via laminectomy (two patients), or associated with instrumented spinal fusion (two patients), and the groups were compared in terms of outcomes.
The results indicated that 16 patients of the 23 studied (69.6 percent) had excellent or good clinical outcomes based on the Macnab modified scale. There were two cases of perioperative complications, two cyst recurrences, and one secondary fusion.
In their conclusion the authors stated that doctors need to use a combination of “clinical judgment and evidence-based knowledge” to determine the appropriate surgery, or whether surgery is needed.
Source: Doctors Lounge
