Your Questions
Your Questions
Q: Dr. Eppley, I have lipomas which make me very self conscious. I saw a video on you tube about Dr.Eppleys lipo-dissolve injections and I was so thrilled.I always thought the only way to get rid of them was surgery. The idea of a bunch of scars frightened me. I live about 2 hours away so I was wondering if I would be able to talk to Dr.Eppley over the phone answer some questions and to explain the procedure. Thank you in advance.
A: A phone consultation can certainly be arranged. The key to understanding the use of lipodissolve injections for lipomas is that, unlike surgery, it may or may not work. It is not an assured treatment. It may get rid of some of them completely, it may reduce the size of some of the lipomas, or it may have no effect at all on them. Only surgery is a guaranteed treatment of removing lipomas. Lipodissolve injections are a safe and minimally invasive treatment for lipomas and are a reasonable option to try before surgery. But they should not be thought of as a surgical substitute for the treatment for lipomas.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis,Indiana
Q: I have a lipoma of size 4″ on my back shoulder which happens to be most common place for a lipoma for many apparently. I want to be cured non-surgical way. I can travel to your location if needed. I heard about Lipostabil treating lipomas. Is it something I should consider? Please advise.
A: The standard method of a lipoma removal is complete surgical excision. While this is the proven medical method, it will result in a scar in the shoulder area. Scars in that area are very prone to becoming hypertrophic and red, although not all will. The use of a chemical injection (Lipostabil in Europe, generic name of Lipodissolve or mesotherapy in the U.S) to treat lipomas is not new. I have injected quite a few lipomas in the last five years for patients who did not want surgery. I have made the following observations about this treatment method. Lipodisolve injections have always made a visible reduction in their size. In some patients it has been a cure but some regrowth is possible if all the fat tumor cells are not adequately treated. It will take at least two and sometimes three injection sessions, spaced a month apart, to get the maximal response. There is some swelling and mild discomfort of the injection site for a week after treatment but it is in no way physically limiting.
While Lipodissolve injections can be effective, it is important to realize that neither the compounds used nor their use in lipoma treatments are FDA-approved.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana
Q: I have 5 lipomas in my stomach area and would love to have their size reduced, if not completely gone. I’ve been looking into having them treated by deoxycholate injections. What has been your success in getting rid of them (all of them are less than 4 cm in diameter) and how many injections sessions does it usually take?
A: The traditional method for lipoma removal is excision. These are encapsulated benign fat tumors that actually pop out of small incisions made directly over them fairly easily with a little pressure. But in an effort to avoid surgery, the use of fat-dissolving injections has been done for them as well. Known chemically as deoxycholate or phosphatidylcholine deoxycholate (often called Lipodissolve), this solution has been well described for the cosmetic reduction of small body fat collections. Working through an inflammatory process, this solution is known to break down the cell walls of fat allowing their fatty acid content to be released. It is less well described and known for fatty tumors (lipomas) treatment but it works through a similar inflammatory process. The fat in a lipoma is more densely packed and , in theory, is a little more resistant.
I have treated a series of lipoma patients with these Lipodissolve injections in my Indianapolis plastic surgery practice and do find it to be effective. It does take more than one injection session to get maximal reduction in most patients. How many injections sessions that would be depends on the size of the lipoma. As a general rule, expect about a 50% reduction with each injection session.
Indianapolis Indiana
