Periorbital Lipogranuloma after Facial Autologous Fat Injection and Its Treatment Outcomes

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To investigate periorbital lipogranuloma cases that developed after autologous fat injection and to determine various treatment outcomes from these cases. METHODS: This retrospective study involved 27 patients who presented with periocular mass (final diagnosis of lipogranuloma) and had history of facial autologous fat injection. The collected data included information on patient sex, age, clinical presentation, number and site of fat injections, interval between injections, duration from injection to symptom onset, fat harvesting site, use of cryopreservation, and treatment outcome. RESULTS: The most common presenting symptom was palpable mass (92.6%), followed by blepharoptosis and eyelid edema. The mean time from injection to symptom onset was 13.6 +/- 29.2 months (range, 2 to 153 months). Patients were managed by intralesional triamcinolone injection (six patients) and surgical excision (three patients); 18 patients were followed without treatment. Among the six patients who underwent intralesional triamcinolone injection, five showed complete resolution, and one showed partial resolution. Among the 18 patients who were followed without management, three showed spontaneous resolution over a 5-month follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Lipogranuloma can develop in the eyelid after autologous fat injection into the face. Both surgical excision and intralesional triamcinolone injection yield relatively good outcomes. Simple observation can be a good option because spontaneous resolution can occur in a subset of patients.