2011 Volume 20 Issue 3 Pages 255-260
Lipomas are one of the most frequently encountered slow-growing benign tumors generally not associated with any symptoms or functional abnormalities due to the absence of damage to the surrounding structures. Consequently, surgery for lipomas in the neck are usually avoided.
In this paper, we describe our experience of a patient who presented with a huge lipoma of the neck. A male patient aged 32 years with a history of right-sided neck mass for 15 years presented with complaints of dizziness, cervical pain and throat discomfort. Surgery was not recommended upon visit to another clinic. CT and MRI revealed that the neck mass was an intramuscular lipoma with a maximum diameter of 100mm. The lipoma was completely removed without any serious surgical complications. However, preservation of the surrounding vital structures was crucial. The postoperative period was uneventful and the patient was relieved of his various complaints, postoperatively.
This case suggests that it is important to establish the criteria for surgical management of cervical lipomas. Relatively fast-growing infiltrating lipomas as in this case must be an indication for surgery.
