Intramuscular lipomas: Large and deep benign lumps not to be underestimated. Review of a series of 51 cases

Abstract

ObjectiveTo review a poorly studied pathology in the scientific literature. Material and methodsAn observational, longitudinal and ambispective study of a series of 51 intramuscular lipomas in 50 patients. The frequency distribution of qualitative variables, and the median and the interquartile range (IQR) for continuous variables were calculated. The relationship between the size of the lipomas (recoded into two values) and the study variables were analyzed using the Fisher exact test. ResultsMen made up 62% of the series, and the median age was 61 years, with 55% of the total being overweight. About half of the patients were diagnosed in the upper limb. More than three-quarters (78%) were strictly intramuscular lipomas. Location, clinical and image presentation, treatment and results are described. DiscussionIntramuscular lipomas have their own particular characteristics. Nevertheless, MRI is sometimes unable to distinguish them from well differentiated liposarcomas. Using size as the only criterion for referring a patient with a soft tissue injury to a reference center is still debatable. ConclusionsPatients with intramuscular lipomas, although they may be typical in their presentation, especially when they are large and show findings that can be confused with a well-differentiated low grade liposarcoma, should be treated in experienced centers.