What to do with neonatal hemangioma? Complete list of treatment methods for hemangioma

Neonatal hemangioma is a benign tumor originating from the blood vessels of the skin, which mostly occurs in infants or children. It is more common on the skin of the head and neck. Hemangiomas will undergo obvious changes as children grow up, such as gradually expanding in size. Neonatal hemangiomas can be treated with surgery, laser and other methods.

1: Skin hemangiomas will change significantly as the child grows. In most cases, hemangiomas gradually increase in size and swell within one year after birth, and then normal skin gradually appears on the purple-red hemangioma. The hemangioma gradually expands from multiple dots and becomes deflated. Most of them disappear after 2 years of age. For cases with rapid growth, large size, or deep location, medication, local injection, laser or surgical treatment can be used according to the situation.

2: Surgical treatment: Suitable for localized, small-area surface hemangiomas that will not affect beauty after the operation. Clinical observations have found that the recurrence rate of hemangioma after surgery is about 5%, but the recurrence rate of strawberry hemangioma is lower after surgery. For those with hemangioma syndrome (i.e., those with massive consumption of various coagulation factors and systemic bleeding tendency), sub-emergency surgery should be actively prepared.

3: Laser and cryotherapy: suitable for small areas that will not affect beauty. Under the irradiation of laser beam, tissues will denature, coagulate, necrotize, carbonize and vaporize within seconds. The tissue reaction after laser irradiation is similar to that of a burn, and will eventually leave behind changes such as scars on the skin. Because laser seriously interferes with the hemodynamics within the hemangioma and slows down the growth of the hemangioma, it is conducive to the natural regression of the lesion, but it is difficult to cure the hemangioma. Cryotherapy is a method of rapidly freezing and necrotizing diseased tissues. It is rarely used because of the large local reaction.

4: Radiation and radionuclide therapy: X-ray irradiation has serious adverse reactions, so it is rarely used. At present, it is mainly used to treat giant hemangiomas that cause thrombocytopenia and anemia. Radionuclide is particularly effective in treating strawberry hemangiomas, with a cure rate of up to 95%. The younger the age, the better the effect. However, its long-term adverse reactions are still quite serious, including bones, breasts, genitals, lenses, thyroid glands and skin, which will have a higher risk of canceration.

5: Hormone treatment: Hormones are more effective for strawberry hemangiomas during the growth period, and are especially suitable for infants under six months old. The effect is less effective after one year old. It is suitable for lesions on the face, ears, nose, etc. that are not suitable for surgical resection, as well as large-area, rapidly enlarging hemangiomas and giant hemangiomas combined with thrombocytopenia. Hormones can be administered orally, intravenously, or locally. After administration, they can usually significantly promote the regression of hemangiomas. The course of hormone therapy is generally about one month, and it is best not to exceed two months. The adverse reactions of hormones are also multifaceted and can usually be recovered after stopping the medication.

6: Observe changes: As mentioned earlier, hemangiomas, especially strawberry hemangiomas, may regress on their own. Therefore, for lesions that grow slowly and are disfiguring with other treatments, their changes should be closely observed and treatment should be considered if necessary.

Today, hemangioma is no longer an intractable disease that makes people shudder. As long as parents pay enough attention in the early stages of discovery and take their children to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible, the possibility of cure is still very high.