Lipoma natural history, complications and prognosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sahar Memar Montazerin, M.D.[2]

Overview

Lipoma tends to affect individuals of 40 to 60 years of age. They are completely benign and recurrence is one of their complications.

Lipoma usually affects individuals of 40 to 60 years of age.^[1]^[2]^[3]
It usually presents with a slowly growing soft tissue mass, typically less than 10 cm.
Trunk, shoulder, upper arm, and neck are the most commonly affected locations.
They are completely benign, but recurrence is one of the complications.
Malignant transformation is rarely reported.
Recurrence is more common among deeply located lipomas, given the increased difficulty for complete removal.

The complications of lipoma listed below:^[4]
- Recurrence (<5%)
- Malignant transformation (rarely reported)

↑ Rydholm, Anders; Berg, Nils O. (2009). “Size, Site and Clinical Incidence of Lipoma:Factors in the Differential Diagnosis of Lipoma and Sarcoma”. Acta Orthopaedica Scandinavica. 54 (6): 929–934. doi:10.3109/17453678308992936. ISSN 0001-6470.
↑ Miettinen, Markku (2010). Modern soft tissue pathology : tumors and non-neoplastic conditions. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521874090.
↑ Phalen, George S.; Kendrick, James I.; Rodriguez, Juan M. (1971). “Lipomas of the upper extremity”. The American Journal of Surgery. 121 (3): 298–306. doi:10.1016/0002-9610(71)90208-X. ISSN 0002-9610.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Bancroft, Laura W.; Kransdorf, Mark J.; Peterson, Jeffrey J.; O’Connor, Mary I. (2006). “Benign fatty tumors: classification, clinical course, imaging appearance, and treatment”. Skeletal Radiology. 35 (10): 719–733. doi:10.1007/s00256-006-0189-y. ISSN 0364-2348.