ABSTRACT
Cystic abdominal lymphangioma is a rare malformative tumor, often discovered in childhood. The aim of this work is to study diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of this malformation. We report a retrospective study of 12 cases treated at the pediatric surgery department of Monastir over a 19-year period. The average age of the patient was 4 years. Diagnosis was suspected prenatally in only 1 case. Clinical signs have no specificity. Ultrasonography [11 cases] suggested the diagnosis in 10 cases. Computed tomography was performed in 4 cases. All patients underwent surgery. Lymphangioma was intraperitoneal in 11 cases and retroperitoneal in 1 case. Total resection was possible in 9 cases. Pathology was confirmed diagnosis in all cases. Postoperative outcome was uneventful for all patients. Because of no specificity of its signs, lymphangioma had many diagnostic difficulties. Ultrasonography constitutes the most important diagnostic imaging. The treatment is surgical and total resection is wished, which will be correlated with an excellent prognosis