Lymphatic Malformation Treated with Lymphatic Malformation-Venous Anastomosis Under Local Anesthesia

Lymphatic malformation (LM) can occur in the head and neck regions and cause cosmetic problems in adults. Sclerotherapy and surgical resection have been frequently applied; however, both are far from being minimally invasive in terms of aesthetic satisfaction, including the aesthetic downtime. We performed a less-invasive treatment using the venous anastomosis technique, named the lymphatic malformation-venous anastomosis (LMVA), mainly in pediatric patients with intractable microcystic lesions, in whom general anesthesia was required because the pediatric patients could not remain still. Here, we report the case of a 35-year-old man with a cystic submandibular LM successfully treated with LMVA under local anesthesia. He presented with a gradually enlarging LM on the neck. For improving aesthetics, LMVA was planned under local anesthesia. Lymphography by injecting indocyanine green revealed no inflow or outflow connection to the malformation; thus, we created an outflow bypass using the sidewall of the LMVA technique. The patient was discharged on the following day of the operation without any postoperative complications. A volumetric analysis 6 months later showed a 43.5% reduction of the malformation, with the patient being completely satisfied with the result. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no previous report on performing LMVA under local anesthesia in an adult. LMVA can be a novel treatment of choice when other options are less feasible.