What are Lipomas and how can it be treated Health Vision Articles

What are Lipomas and how can it be treated? Lipomas are fatty lumps that grows between the skin and the underlying muscle. Treated by Medications, surgery or Minimally invasive stitch-less procedure

A model cum actor from Germany, who was at the peak of his career started feeling some fat deposits throughout his body, mainly affecting his thighs, abdomen, chest region, arms and lower back. Though the condition was not affecting him in any physical pain or discomfort, but his overall quality of life was affected. Pertaining to the fact that he was unable to face the camera for various scenes, he started losing self-confidence. Upon consultations at various places, he was suggested for a complete cosmetic transformation.

He then came to know about a minimally invasive procedure that could seek him through the way. He was thoroughly examined and found about 324 lipoma sites throughout his body. While he had lost hopes on all the other treatment options suggested to him elsewhere, this was the last resort. The team explained about the advantages of the stitch-less minimally invasive lipoma removal procedure. He was told that the procedure will be minimally invasive and the outcome will not affect his cosmetic appeal. The procedure took record 12 hours continuous for the team of surgeons to completely remove all the 324 lumps, and the patient was discharged the next day. He had a quicker recovery as there were not stitches or scarring and the procedure was safe without any chances of infections.

What are Lipomas?

Medically, lipomas are fatty lumps that grows slowly between the skin and the underlying muscle layer that are classified as tumours and are mostly non-cancerous and harmless. It is usually soft to touch, feels like dough but not tender and moves underneath the skin upon gentle touch. Being one of the most common type of tumour to grow underneath the skin, it is estimated that every, one in thousand persons will get lipomas at some point of time.

Irrespective of age, gender anyone can develop these lesions which are usually harmless. But at times when it grows gradually can exert pressure on the nerves causing debilitating pain and heaviness, leading to serious complications. Though, it can not be identified in the initial stages as there are no major symptoms. Common locations include shoulders, arms, thighs, abdomen, neck, back, and can also be present on multiple locations.

How to know if you have lipoma?

In the initial stages the lipomas are small fat deposits (less than 50 mm diameter) but can grow gradually. The lumps may be soft and can move very easily with finger pressure and are commonly found in the shoulders, neck back, abdomen, thighs and arms.

In most of the cases the condition is painless, until the size of the lump increases and press the adjoining nerves to cause severe pain. Though lipoma is rarely a serious medical condition or an underlying cause of any disease, but if one notices a growing lump or swelling, anywhere in the body, it is advised to get it diagnosed immediately. Though the real underlying cause of lipomas are unknown it is yet to be understood completely. Apart from being a genetic condition, it is majorly found in people in the age bracket of 40 to 60 years of age.

Timely diagnosis is the key

A physical examination of the patient is must for the doctor for diagnosis which can be assisted with biopsy, in which a small part of the tissue is removed from the site and observed under the microscope for confirmation.O ther radiology tests including X-rays, CT scan or MRI may be required in case the lumps are larger or has unusual features or if seems to be deeper than the actual deposits.Such lipomas are mostly benign and may not cause any harm but there are very minute chances that the lipomas may actually represent cancerous tumour known as liposarcoma, which are very painful and spreads rapidly.

How can it be treated?

While there is no necessity for treating such lipomas if it does not cause any discomfort to the patient, but in case if it forms severe pain, the doctors may recommend to get it removed surgically.

1. Medications – Initially when the pain starts to trigger, painkillers and steroids may be given in order to shrink the tumour and subside the pain. But even when the effects of medication doesn’t seem to work, the doctor will suggest for a surgical procedure.

2. Surgical intervention – An open surgery at the site of lipoma may be advised when the patient is in debilitating pain. In this, the lumps are removed surgically by cutting them out, which is done under local anaesthesia. This method may be useful for removing one or two lumps but may permanently leave stitch marks affecting the cosmetic appeal. While cosmetic procedures are costly, most patients do not prefer in case of multiple lipomas.

3. Minimally invasive stitch-less procedure – This is one of the unique and advanced lipoma removal techniques used for treating multiple lipomas without affecting the cosmetic appeal. It is a painless and stitch less surgery that involves pin hole incisions only thereby avoiding big cuts and chances of infections. This is one of the most successful and beneficial techniques for treating multiple lesions throughout the body, with negligible scarring. Being performed as a day care procedure the patient has a quicker recovery, eliminating the need for the hospital stay.

While the chances of recurrence are very rare, this minimally invasive procedure is a very safe and advantageous procedure for treating patients with multiple lumps.