[Multiple angiolipomas--analgesics therapy with doxepin]

Angiolipomas are rare benign tumours of the subcutaneous fat; they are sometimes solitary but their occurrence is more frequently multiple. Angiolipomas can be differentiated from lipomas clinically by their pronounced tenderness and histologically by their variable vascularization. The disease occurs mostly in young adults, the sites of predilection being the trunk and proximal extremities. Multiple angiolipomas have to be differentiated from other lipomatoses, especially from adiposis dolorosa (Dercum's disease). The case reported in this paper was characterized by typical clinical and histological findings. The systemic administration of acetylsalicylic acid, diclofenac, ketotifen, ranitidine, tramadol, tilidine combined with naloxone did not provide adequate pain relief. In contrast, the therapeutic efficiency of the antidepressant doxepin, which also displays antihistaminic effects, suggests a possible role of mediators in the development of pain in angiolipomas.