A practical guide to treatment of infantile hemangiomas of the head and neck

Infantile hemangiomas are the most common benign vascular tumors in infancy and childhood. As hemangioma could regress spontaneously, it generally does not require treatment unless proliferation interferes with normal function or gives rise to risk of serious disfigurement and complications unlikely to resolve without treatment. Various methods for treating infant hemangiomas have been documented, including wait and see policy, laser therapy, drug therapy, sclerotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and so on, but none of these therapies can be used for all hemangiomas. To obtain the best treatment outcomes, the treatment protocol should be individualized and comprehensive as well as sequential. Based on published literature and clinical experiences, we established a treatment guideline in order to provide criteria for the management of head and neck hemangiomas. This protocol will be renewed and updated to include and reflect any cutting-edge medical knowledge, and provide the newest treatment modalities which will benefit our patients.