Lipoma
A lipoma is a neoplasm of adipose tissue that has a benign character. Lipoma is most often formed in subcutaneous tissue, but in some cases it may appear in internal organs with a layer of fat.
Lipoma diagnosis is most common in older, mature, senile people. The disease is observed in both sexes. Treatment of this neoplasm usually consists in its removal.
The content of the article:
Causes of lipoma
Symptoms of lipoma
How to treat lipoma
Prognosis for lipoma
Lipoma
Causes of lipoma
In its appearance, the lipoma is a node that is soft to the touch, does not cause pain and consists of adipose tissue. Most often, a lipoma is formed in the subcutaneous tissue. This node is not soldered to the surrounding tissues, and usually its diameter does not exceed two centimeters. It is worth noting that in practice cases of lipomas reaching large sizes are recorded. The degree of their formation may depend on a person’s weight and change slightly with it, but in general, the occurrence of lipomas does not depend on the presence or absence of excess weight in a person. Even if he loses weight, the lipoma will remain in place and continue to accumulate fat in itself.
The neoplasm may consist not only of adipose tissue, but also include elements of connective tissue. Then this knot will be more dense to the touch.
The classification and division of lipomas into types depends on where they are located, whether connective tissue and blood vessels of the circulatory system are present in their composition.
The annular lipoma is localized along the circumference of the neck. If it has a large size, it can interfere with breathing, make it difficult to swallow, cause attacks of suffocation. This happens because the lipoma presses on the respiratory tract. Such a type of formation can be located in a place that will often succumb to mechanical influences: friction, pressure, tight clothing. This causes the patient discomfort and pain.
Lipoma is usually a cosmetic problem that interferes with normal life, since there may be many such neoplasms, or they are localized in open areas of the skin.
Symptoms of lipoma
In order to diagnose a lipoma, it is usually enough for a doctor to identify clinical symptoms: examine the node, ask the patient about how long ago the neoplasm arose.
The lipoma will be removed if it is a pronounced cosmetic defect. Among other reasons for removing the neoplasm is the pressure of the lipoma on the respiratory tract, tissues and blood vessels. In such cases, the lipoma must be removed in order to avoid changes in the patient’s body.
How to treat lipoma
Treatment of lipoma in most cases is reduced to its removal, which can be carried out in various ways.
For example, it is possible to remove a neoplasm using a laser or electrocoagulation technique. Radio wave surgery is also successfully used. After such a procedure, there are no scars on the patient’s body, it is completely painless, and the recovery and healing period is only five days.
The lipoma can also be removed by surgical excision, after which the tissue material of the neoplasm is checked by histological analysis.
The puncture-aspiration method of removing a neoplasm is a way to eliminate a lipoma by inserting a needle with a wide lumen into it. Removal of the fatty contents of the node in the future occurs with the use of electric suction. The advantage of this method is that after the manipulation is performed, sutures, bandages and bandages are not required, and the patient can return home and to a normal lifestyle on the same day. However, the disadvantage of the puncture-aspiration method is that the capsule — the middle of the lipoma — is not removed, and there is a small chance of recurrence. The purity of the performed manipulation depends only on the professionalism of the doctor performing the procedure.
Prognosis for lipoma
Lipoma is a neoplasm in which doctors give a favorable outcome. But there is always a danger of relapse — the recurrence of lipoma. The cause of neoplasm after surgery may be the capsule remaining in the tissues or the previous lipoma not completely removed. Therefore, in the treatment of the disease, great attention should be paid to minimizing the possibility of relapse.
