Removal of a cyst on the anterior shoulder

This patient was seen by one of our Physician Assistants today, Erin, and she noticed he had an epidermoid cyst that he didn’t like on his left anterior shoulder. I had a few minutes between patients, so I was able to remove it, and video tape it for you all to see.

An epidermoid cyst is often called a sebaceous cyst, but this is not an accurate term. It is a benign cyst not of sebaceous (oil gland) origin, but instead, originates from the skin/hair follicle. It is a well defined entity, with a sac filled with keratin, aka macerated skin cells. They do not have to be removed, but cause problems if they get inflamed or infected which can create an abscess which causes a lot of pain and potentially permanent scarring.
In this case, the cyst is not inflamed, and therefore easy to remove with a punch biopsy tool, a few sutures are placed, which will leave him with a short, fine scar line that will not be very noticeable at all.
He actually watched the procedure while I was doing it, which I don’t usually recommend.. I take pride that I have very few people that faint in my office..and when a person watches their own surgery, you never know how their body will react. He did well though, and I think he found this cyst extraction as fascinating as I did!
Thank you so much for watching!!

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On instagram, you can also follow my physician assistant, Erin Jensen @thewhitecoattreatment

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periscope: Dr. Sandra Lee

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