Injection therapy for the management of superficial subcutaneous lipomas

Superficial subcutaneous lipomas are common benign tumors of the subcutaneous adipose tissue. Removal of superficial subcutaneous lipomas is achieved with simple surgical excision for the purposes of improved cosmesis, removing painful lipomas, or for the removal of a lipoma affecting function through mass effect. As research in localized fat reduction has improved, therapies successful in this domain have been applied to the management of lipomas as a surgical alternative. In this review article, the authors review the basic science of injection therapies used in the management of lipomas as well as their potential efficacy and limitations.