Wondering if lipomas can regrow post a surgical removal? You’re in the right place. And you must know that lipomas can indeed grow again after surgical removal.

Understanding why they come back and what you can do about it is crucial for anyone dealing with this issue.

Are you concerned about lipoma recurrence post-surgery? Mykare Health is here to help you out with the right information at the right time.

In this blog, we'll delve into the details of lipoma recurrence, exploring the factors behind it and discussing potential solutions.

Lipoma: Addressing the Concern

Lipoma is a fatty tumour growth that is usually harmless and doesn’t pose any physiological problems. If it bothers you in your daily activities or grows abruptly in size, your physician will advise you to go for removal of it.

Only 1-2% of the cases there are lipoma recurrence post- surgery. So, if you want to go for surgery, go for it without a second thought.

Even after there is recurrence, it usually takes several years to develop. Upon regrowth of your lipoma, your physician asks you to get it removed.

Factors That Contribute To Regrowth

There are several factors that contribute to the lipoma recurrence post-surgery. Some of it are:

• Malignancy - If your lipoma is recurring, there is a chance that it was actually liposarcoma, the malignant variant of lipoma. There are several case studies where initial mis-diagnosis of your abnormal growth results in lipoma recurrence post- surgery.

To go for a surgical removal of lipoma, you must undergo several tests like, CT scan, MRI scan and other tests as and when required and suggested by the surgeon.

After removal of the tumour, it should be sent to biopsy for confirming that it is benign or malignant. Once the reports come, your physician may take further steps for management.

• Efficiency of Surgeon – Sometimes, the efficiency of your surgeon also decides the regrowth of your lipoma. If during the removal procedure, some remains of the tumour remain back in your body, the fat cells may grow back.

This is mostly seen in cases where the cover of the tumour ruptures and some cells spill over into surrounding tissues.

These cells survive in your body and will aid in the development of the tumour subsequently.

So, get your tumour removed from a qualified medical professional in a proper hospital set up.

When the lipomas are removed entirely, there is less than 5% recurrence rate, that is out of every 20 people undergoing a lipoma removal surgery, 1 person may have the chance of recurrence.

• Procedure of removal – There are different ways to get rid of your lipoma. Surgical removal, Liposuction, Laser lipolysis and many more.

Of these, liposuction has the highest rate of lipoma recurrence post-surgery. This is again due to the remains of the tumour cells into the body.

Liposuction is the minimum invasive surgical removal of tumour contents. In liposuction, a needle is inserted into your lipoma to suck out the contents and shrink the tumour.

In this process, the lining of the tumour remains intact which again regains its ability to multiply the fat cells and recur your lipoma.

• Associated disease present – When you have a genetic predisposition towards lipomas, there is a high chance of recurrence. Moreover, if you have certain conditions which led to the development of multiple lipomas in your body, there is a pretty high chance that the lipoma will grow back.

• Unknown causes – There needs to be more intensive research on this topic, as some cases recur without any visible cause. But that doesn’t mean, you would step back from taking the decision of getting rid of your useless fatty growth. There is also a very minute chance of your lipoma converting into an aggressive malignant tumour.

Strategies to Minimise Risk

To minimise the risk of your lipoma recurrence post- surgery, you must keep in mind certain points before, during and after surgery.

• Consult with a qualified medical professional for advice on your lipoma removal.

• Get all the tests done as requested by your surgeon, to confirm the diagnosis of your tumour.

• Get a biopsy done of the removed tumour.

• Choose your lipoma removal options wisely.

• Open surgical removal of the tumour is a gold standard for lipoma treatment, with the most success rate. If you do not have any medical condition that prevents you from undergoing an open surgery, you must choose it.

• Lipomas must be removed entirely keeping its outer layer intact.

• If you have multiple lipomas, you must keep in mind, there is about a 5% chance of lipoma recurrence post- surgery.

Lipomas are benign tumours which are usually not a problem-some and are best to remove if it bothers you.

Experts say, there is a very little chance of lipoma recurrence post- surgery. Even if it does, it is usually removed again.

There are several factors which denote the chance of re appearance of the tumour. Whatever the case may be, you must get rid of a lipoma greater than 2 inches in size.

You must wisely weigh the risks and benefits of lipoma removal based on the facts put forward by kareline. Stay safe and keep striving hard.