Arthroscopic Excision of Posterior Cruciate Ligament Cysts Using a Double Posteromedial Approach

Cruciate ligament cysts of the knee are a rare condition. Posterior cruciate ligament cysts of the knee are less common than anterior cruciate ligament cysts. In patients with asymptomatic isolated cruciate ligament cysts of the knee, conservative treatment is recommended. Symptomatic cruciate ligament cysts of the knee are mostly manifested as knee hyperflexion pain, straightening pain, knee discomfort after standing for a long time or walking for a long time, etc., which seriously affects the quality of life, surgical treatment can be performed. The surgical treatments can be divided into ultrasound-guided cyst puncture and fluid extraction procedure and arthroscopic cystectomy. Cysts are mostly lobulated with a multi-layer cyst wall, cyst fluid extraction does not remove the cyst wall completely but simply extracts cyst fluid, leading to a high recurrence rate. Arthroscopic surgery can completely remove the cyst wall with little trauma, a low recurrence rate, and fast postoperative recovery, so arthroscopic resection is the most common and preferred method of treatment. Since posterior cruciate ligament cysts mostly occur posterior to the ligament, we remove the cyst wall by adding a double posteromedial approach to the knee joint, and the cyst wall is removed under direct vision, which is simple to operate, the cyst wall is completely cleared, the trauma is small, the postoperative recovery is fast, and there is no recurrence. Here, 8 posterior cruciate ligament cysts were removed with complete postoperative symptom relief, no surgical complications, and no recurrence at 1-year follow-up.