Liposuction in treatment of plexiform neurofibromas

87.5 Conclusions: If the advantages of liposuction regarding short postsurgical recovery and minimal scaring are taken into account, this method may be preferable in selected patients with superficial plexiform neurofibromas. Similar to conventional surgical treatment, the risk of tumor regrowth and recurrence should be considered. Patient preoperative workup should include an MRI scan to define surgical planes and rule out the involvement of vital structures. Rapid growth of lesions, significant pain and tumor necrosis or bleeding seen on an MRI scan could indicate malignant degeneration of the tumor and liposuction should be avoided in such patients. Prior to liposuction, pathological diagnosis should be confirmed with intraoperative frozen section. One should keep in mind that our experience in treatment of plexiform neurofibromas with liposuction is limited, based on just a few cases. More experience with a larger number of patients and longer postprocedure follow-up will certainly shed better light on the usefulness of this method in treatment of plexiform neurofibromas.