Management of spinal synovial cysts.

OBJECTIVE The report aimed to present the outcome of surgical management of spinal synovial cyst. METHODS The study was a retrospective review of six patients surgically treated between January 2005 and September 2007. The patients were evaluated in preoperative and postoperative periods. Evaluation was done by questionnaire scoring system. According to this system, categories were; excellent,good, fair, and poor. RESULTS The duration of follow-up ranged between 3 months and 42 months (mean: 23.3 months; SD: 13.0). Synovial cysts were located in the lumbar spine in 4 of 6 patients. In the other 2 patients, they were in the cervical and thoracal regions. Three patients were female, and three were male. The results of the lumbar group were better than those of the other groups in early period. The findings of the follow-up evaluations were better than those determined in the early postoperative period in all the groups. CONCLUSIONS Surgery is an effective treatment for spinal synovial cysts, especially for lumbar synovial cysts.