Background:

Baker's cyst is the most common soft tissue popliteal tumor; treatment may be conservative or surgical by arthroscopy or open ways.

Objective:

to deep the knowledge about Baker's cyst in the knee joint.

Methods:

the search of the information was carried out in a period of three months (from October 1st, 2017 to December 31, 2017) and the following words were used: popliteal cyst and Baker's cyst, from the obtained information it was carried out a bibliographical review of a whole of 316 articles published in the databases PubMed, Hinari, SciELO and Medline by means of the information locator EndNote, of them 50 citations were selected to do the review, 45 of them of last five years, where four books were included.

Development:

important aspects related to clinical picture and imaging investigations were pointed out. Differential diagnosis between Baker's cyst in children and adults, and Baker's cyst and popliteal aneurysm were described. Treatment modalities were stated as well as surgical indications.

Conclusions:

Baker's cyst is the most common soft tissue popliteal tumor affecting children and adults with cardinal differences. Popliteal aneurysm should be always ruled out. Surgical treatment is usually needed in adults by open procedures or arthroscopy, both methods have good results.

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