Bartholin glands are located at the entrance of vagina on both sides. They cannot be seen with naked eyes when normal, but only visible if they are enlarged. They secret fluid in to the mucosal surface of the labia.

If  it occurs due to infection it leads to Bartholin abscess. It is common in women who have never been pregnant. It can vary in size from size of pea to the size of an egg. Certain sexually transmitted disease like syphilis can cause these cyst.

Symptoms

• Painless swelling of the labia.
• In abscess there will be pain, fever, vaginal discharge.

Treatment

• Small cysts are treated by sit baths
• Recurrent cysts are treated with antibiotics.
• Bartholin abscess is treated with incision and drainage and antibiotics.
• Marsupialization is a surgical procedure. In this procedure an incision is put on the skin of the cyst and is carried down through the cyst wall. This drains the fluid from the cyst and the lining of cyst is sutured to the overlying skin to create a permanent drainage site. This will prevent the recurrence of the cyst.