An interventional study of Open resection and Arthroscopic resection in Wrist Ganglion, Ganglion and Ganglion Cyst, sponsored by Tampere University Hospital. Recruiting at 6 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-22.
Sponsored by Tampere University Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if surgery helps with wrist ganglions in adults. The main question it aims to answer is:
Researchers will compare surgery to conservative treatment (self-administered exercises and use of the hand as tolerated) to see if surgery provides superior outcomes.
Participants will:
Wrist ganglions are the most common soft tissue tumors of the hand and also the most frequently excised hand lesions. Despite their high prevalence, the best treatment remains uncertain, as earlier studies have provided conflicting evidence and randomized controlled data are scarce.
This study is a multicenter, randomized, controlled, superiority trial comparing surgical excision with conservative care in adults with a painful wrist ganglion. The trial is conducted in Finland and Singapore, with participants randomized in equal groups. Follow-up continues for 12 months, with primary evaluation at 6 months.
The study protocol has been reviewed and approved by the regional ethics committee. Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants prior to enrollment. Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific meetings to inform clinical decision-making for patients with wrist ganglions.
42 studies on the registry are indexed under Ganglion Cysts; 7 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 220 is above the median of 62 across 31 interventional studies indexed under Ganglion Cysts.
Browse Ganglion Cysts studies →Tampere University Hospital is the lead sponsor of 212 studies on the registry; 56 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
The criteria were revised on the registry on Oct 22, 2026. See what changed
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Ganglion resection is performed in an operating room within 2 months of randomization, using either an open or an arthroscopic approach at the surgeon's discretion. There are no restrictions on anaesthesia methods. A bulky dressing is applied and removed within a week, and active range of motion exercises are begun immediately. Participants also receive the same self-implemented exercise instructions as the conservative treatment group.
Procedure: Open resection · Procedure: Arthroscopic resection
Other: Conservative treatment
A transverse or longitudinal incision is done depending on surgeon's preference. The ganglion and its pedicle are traced up to its origin. The pedicle is resected tangentially, usually, from the SL ligament for dorsal ganglions and depending on the site for volar ganglion. Wrist capsule is not closed.
Portals are selected by surgeon's preference. The pedicle of the ganglion is located and resected with a shaver. It is not necessary to remove all the ganglion walls. The portal incisions do not need to be sutured.
Participant will be informed about the natural course of wrist ganglions. The conservative treatment may include needle aspiration of the ganglion, but it is not performed routinely. If a participant requests aspiration, the decision to perform it is left to the clinical discretion of the treating physician. Participants are informed that wrist loading in extension may exacerbate the pain, and that the pain is not a sign of further injury to wrist joint. They may avoid heavy use if they have too much pain, but they are advised to use hand as tolerated. Participants may use NSAIDs and acetaminophen for pain management as needed; however, the protocol does not specify a required course or dosage. Every participant is given simple self-implemented exercise therapy instructions; the exercises are to be performed three times a week until symptoms are relieved.
Patient-Rated Wrist/Hand Evaluation (PRWHE) pain score
The PRWHE is a 15-item questionnaire that is designed to measure wrist pain and disability in activities of daily living. Symptoms are described as average over the past week. The PRWHE consists of two subscales: pain and function. The PRWHE pain includes five items with combined score from 0 (no pain) to 50 (worst ever).
Time frame: 6 months follow-ups
PRWHE pain score
The PRWHE is a 15-item questionnaire that is designed to measure wrist pain and disability in activities of daily living. Symptoms are described as average over the past week. The PRWHE consists of two subscales: pain and function. The PRWHE pain includes five items with combined score from 0 (no pain) to 50 (worst ever).
Time frame: 3 and 12 months follow-ups
PRWHE function score
The PRWHE is a 15-item questionnaire that is designed to measure wrist pain and disability in activities of daily living. Symptoms are described as average over the past week. The PRWHE consists of two subscales: pain and function. Score of the PRWHE function ranges from 0 (no difficulty) to 50 (unable to do).
Time frame: 3, 6, and 12 months follow-ups
PRWHE total score
The PRWHE is a 15-item questionnaire that is designed to measure wrist pain and disability in activities of daily living. Symptoms are described as average over the past week. The PRWHE consists of two subscales: pain and function. The PRWHE total ranges from 0 (best) to 100 (worst).
Time frame: 3, 6, and 12 months follow-ups
Global improvement
Self-reported global improvement will be gathered as 7-step Likert scale as a response to question: "Compared with the beginning of the study, my wrist feels much worse - somewhat worse - little worse - no change - little better - somewhat better - much better."
Time frame: 3, 6, and 12 months follow-ups
Patient Accepted Symptom State (PASS)
PASS will be assessed using the question: "Considering the current symptoms and function of your wrist, are you satisfied with the outcome?" Participants will respond with either 'yes' or 'no'.
Time frame: 3, 6, and 12 months follow-ups
Health-related quality of life
Health-related quality of life is measured by EuroQol visual analogue scale (EQ VAS). EQ VAS is a component of 5-level EQ-5D questionnaire. It measures patient's overall current health-related quality of life in a 20 cm visual analogue scale. The scale ranges from 100 ("the best health state you can imagine") to 0 ("the worst health you can imagine").
Time frame: 3, 6, and 12 months follow-ups
Presence of the ganglion
The presence of the ganglion will be assessed through clinical examination.
Time frame: 6 months follow-ups
Duration of sick leave
The duration of sick leave is measured in days.
Time frame: 6 months follow-ups
Adverse events
Time frame: 3, 6, and 12 months follow-ups
Agreement between the surgeon's predicted and the observed 6-month outcomes
Immediately after surgery, the operating surgeon is shown the participant's baseline PRWHE scores and minimal important change values and predicts the participant's 6-month PRWHE total score, PRWHE pain score, and global improvement (7-point Likert scale), with an open-text rationale. The correlation and agreement between the predicted and the observed 6-month outcomes will be assessed in the operative treatment group. Exploratory outcome, not part of the primary trial report.
Time frame: Prediction immediately after surgery; comparison with observed outcomes at 6 months
PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.
Plan to share: Yes — On request and if current legislation allows, we will provide the anonymized data of the study.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan, Informed consent form, Analytic code
Time frame: The data will be available after the trial conclusion. All data will be retained for fifteen years following the conclusion of the trial.
Access criteria: On request.
Started Jan 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2034, 107 months after the start.
Of 16 interventional studies with no phase under Ganglion Cysts, half reached primary completion within 12 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 11 and three quarters within 26. This study's planned 107 months is above that.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.