34th Annual Scientific Meeting proceedings

Objectives:

To determine if compartmental resection of infiltrative lipomas reduces the risk of local recurrence compared to marginal excision or debulking.

Methods:

Study design: Observational clinical retrospective study.

Animal population: Twenty-nine client-owned dogs surgically treated for infiltrative lipoma. 

Methods: The clinical records were evaluated for signalment, history, physical examination, diagnostic imaging and clinical pathology results, time to recurrence, and postoperative outcomes. 

Results:

Most infiltrative lipomas were in the pelvic limbs (12/29; 41.3%), predominantly in the thigh (10/29; 34.5%). Computed tomography provided the highest diagnosis rate (100%), followed by biopsy (60%) and aspiration cytology (0%). Recurrence was reported in 9/13 (69.2%) after debulking, 1/9 (11%) after compartmental excision, and 0/1 after radical excision. Recurrence was significantly less likely with compartmental excision than debulking (P=0.011; OR 18.0; 95% CI 1.65–196.31). Debulking surgery before compartmental excision did not affect the likelihood of recurrence (P=0.39). The median time to recurrence following debulking was 342 (range 187–995) days.

Conclusions:

Compartmental excision of infiltrative lipomas resulted in a statistically lower recurrence rate than debulking and previous reports. No dysfunction associated with myectomy was reported. Compartmental excision is the preferred treatment for infiltrative lipomas.