12% to 41% of patients. A six-year outcome study of the treatment of ganglion cysts on the dorsal wrist compared excision, aspiration, and no treatment. Neither excision nor aspiration provided long-term benefit better than no treatment. Of the untreated ganglion cysts, 58% resolved spontaneously; the postsurgery recurrence rate in this study was 39%. A similar study in 2003 of ganglion cysts occurring on the palmar surface of the wrist states: "At 2- and 5-year follow-up, regardless of treatment, no difference in symptoms was found, regardless of whether the palmar wrist ganglion was excised, aspirated, or left alone." Etymology Being a misnomer that has persisted into modern times, the ganglion cyst is unrelated to the neural "ganglion" or "ganglion cell"; its etymology traces back to the ancient Greek γάγγλιον, a "knot" or "swelling beneath the skin", which extends to the neural masses by analogy. Generally, Hippocrates is credited with the description of these cysts. The term "Bible cyst" (or "Bible bump") is derived from an urban legend or historical effort to hit the cyst with a Bible. Trying to treat the lesion by hitting it with a book, though, is discouraged. See also Ganglioneuroma References External links American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons - Ganglions cyst of the wrist Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety - Ganglion cyst Dermal and subcutaneous growths Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate Wikipedia emergency medicine articles ready to translate