Treatments and drugs

Treatment of a Bartholin cyst depends on the size of the cyst, the amount of discomfort it causes and whether it's infected, resulting in an abscess. Here are some of the treatment options your doctor may recommend:

Sitz baths. Sometimes, soaking in a tub filled with a few inches of warm water (sitz bath) several times a day for three or four days helps a small, uncomplicated cyst to rupture and drain on its own.
Surgical drainage. A cyst that's infected or very large generally requires drainage by a doctor. Drainage of a cyst can be done in your doctor's office under local anesthesia, but in some cases, you and your doctor may opt for general sedation, if that makes you more comfortable. To do the drainage procedure, your doctor makes a small incision in the cyst to allow it to drain. Then he or she places a small rubber tube (catheter) in the incision. The catheter stays in place for four to six weeks to keep the opening from closing up and to allow complete drainage. After that, the catheter is removed and the incision heals completely.
Antibiotics. If the cyst is infected, or if testing reveals a sexually transmitted disease, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to ensure that the bacteria causing the infection are destroyed. But if the abscess is drained properly, you may not need antibiotics.
Marsupialization. If cysts recur, your doctor may perform a technique called marsupialization. This method is usually effective in preventing recurrences. It's similar to the surgical drainage procedure, only your doctor places a few stitches on either side of the incision to create a permanent opening, less than one-quarter inch (about 5 millimeters) long. Your doctor may insert a catheter to promote draining for a few days to prevent recurrence. This procedure can be done in your doctor's office but, depending on the complexity of the cyst, may be done in an operating room in the hospital under general anesthesia. Since marsupialization isn't recommended when an active infection is present, your doctor will likely want to drain the abscess first and get rid of the infection, then perform the marsupialization.
If you have persistent recurrences and none of these procedures is successful, your doctor may recommend removal of the Bartholin's gland, but this is rarely necessary. Surgical removal is usually done in a hospital under general anesthesia.

Some doctors are using laser therapy to treat Bartholin cyst but this type of treatment is still in the experimental phase.

~Zig