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Updated: Jul 27, 2026
Intraoperative Ultrasound in Spinal Surgery
Published on: August 17, 2022
Intraspinal lumbar synovial cysts: diagnosis and surgical management
R Indar1, E Tsiridis, M Morgan
1Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow, Essex, UK. rupertindar@hotmail.com
Background:
Lumbar synovial cysts are a common association of facet joint degenerative disease. However, it is relatively rare for these cysts to cause symptoms of radiculopathy and nerve root compression.
Patients And Methods:
We report a series of eight cases which were treated over a period of 20 months. There were five female and three male patients with a mean age of 66 years, and an average follow-up of seventeen months. All patients had pre-operative flexion/extension radiographs and MRI scans. Two patients had failed non-surgical treatment, two were associated with a Grade 1 spondylolisthesis, and all were associated with facet joint arthropathy. There were five cases occurring at L4/5 and three at L5/S1.
Results:
All patients underwent identical procedures, which involved exploration, hemi-laminotomy, flavectomy and minimal facet joint excision. No patient required posterior lumbar interbody fusion and at follow-up five patients had excellent and three had good results.
