Mucous cyst

A ganglion of the distal interphalangeal joint, lying on the back of the finger between the end joint and the nail fold. It is associated with osteoarthritis of the joint and its osteophytes (Heberden nodes), can groove the nail by pressing on the nail matrix, and recurs least often when the joint is debrided at the time the cyst is excised.

Related terms

• Condition

  Ganglion cyst

  A benign cyst filled with thick, clear mucin and joined by a stalk to a nearby joint capsule or tendon sheath; its wall has no true synovial lining. It is the commonest lump of the hand and wrist and arises most often on the back of the wrist over the scapholunate ligament, on the front of the wrist beside the radial artery, from a finger's flexor tendon sheath, or as a mucous cyst at the end joint. About half resolve without treatment.

• Condition

  Heberden node

  A firm bony swelling at the back of a finger's end (distal interphalangeal) joint, formed by osteophytes in osteoarthritis of that joint. A mucous cyst often arises beside one, and the osteophytes are commonly trimmed when the cyst is excised.

Articles mentioning this term

1. Patient information · 2 October 2026

   Ganglion cysts

   Ganglion cysts of the wrist and fingers: why they form, why many go away on their own, what needle drainage and surgery can do, and the risks.

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