Lipoma on right knee removed, and grew back two months later (Photo)

Question

I was having a lot of pain in my right knee. I had a lump as hard as bone the size of a golf ball on the side of my knee. Family doctor sent me to see a orthopaedic surgeon. He did multiple test and then the In August I had it removed. He said it was a lipoma and was harmless, he said he got it all! Two months later I noticed the lump starting again. Now pain is back knee buckles on me and will wake me up at night from pain. Surgeon wants to remove it again. Is this going to keep coming back ?

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

Lipomas are benign fatty tumors that occur under the skin and less commonly within the muscle. They are associated with mild discomfort and a lump underneath the skin. It is always best to talk to an expert plastic surgeon to determine whether the lipoma is possibly a cyst or a tumor or hernia. We would have to remove the lipoma to be sure that it is not something else and we usually do this by sending it to a pathologist for evaluation. If a lipoma is painful, then an exam is needed to make sure it is not compressing on a nerve or whether the diagnosis is different. Aftercare for a lipoma includes gentle compression and Plato’s Scar Serum twice daily on the wound.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

Best, 
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

Darrick E. Antell, MD, FACS · Answer

Incomplete removal is the most common cause of a reoccurrence. There can also be an adjacent lipoma that may have suddenly enlarged. Regardless, I would go back to the surgeon for another go at it.

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Lipoma on right knee removed, and grew back two months later (Photo)

Answers (2)

LIPOMA REMOVAL PROVIDERS NEAR YOU