Liposuction For Lipoma Cost
The cost of lipoma removal depends on a lot of factors. These include the type of lipoma you have, how large it is and where it is located. It also depends on whether or not you will need additional procedures like lymph node dissection or liposuction for other areas in addition to your lipoma removal surgery. In some cases, insurance may cover part or all of the cost.
In this guide, we review the aspects of Liposuction For Lipoma Cost, lipoma removal cost insurance, At what size should a lipoma be removed, and how much is liposuction for lipoma
Liposuction For Lipoma Cost
Lipomas are benign tumors that can appear anywhere in your body. They are soft, slow-growing and noncancerous, which means that they are harmless to your health. Lipomas do not pose any medical threat, but they can be a source of embarrassment due to their appearance. So if you think you have a lipoma, here is everything you need to know about its removal including the cost:
Cost Of Lipoma Removal
The cost of lipoma removal depends on many factors, such as the type of lipoma you have, the size and location. Lipomas in some areas of the body are easier to remove than others. The surgeon’s experience and reputation also play an important role in determining how much you will be paying for your procedure. As with any medical procedure, it is best to choose a reputable hospital or clinic where they have performed this procedure before so that they can give you an estimate based on their experience and knowledge.
Tips To Help You Choose A Surgeon For Lipoma
When choosing a surgeon to perform lipoma removal, there are certain factors that you should consider. You want a doctor who has lots of experience performing this procedure and understands the anatomy of your body. You can ask for referrals from friends, family or co-workers to find out if anyone has had a similar procedure done by this specific surgeon. Look for a surgeon who is board-certified in plastic surgery and affiliated with one of the most reputable hospitals in your area.
Conclusion
Lipoma removal is a safe procedure that can be done by a qualified surgeon. The cost of this procedure depends on many factors, including the type of lipoma you have, the location and size, among others. Lipomas are usually removed in an office setting with local anesthesia and sedation. If necessary, general anesthesia may be needed to make sure you’re comfortable during your procedure.
In conclusion, there are several different types of lipomas; some are easier to remove than others. Your doctor will be able to recommend the type that works best for you based on your situation.
Having the right surgeon is key to a successful lipoma surgery. The cost depends on many factors, including the type of lipoma you have, the location and size, among others.
- Choose a surgeon with experience in lipoma removal. Lipomas are benign tumors that affect the skin and subcutaneous tissue. This makes them relatively easy to remove, but it’s always best to choose an experienced surgeon when it comes to surgery because they know what they’re doing and can perform the procedure more efficiently.
- Do your research. Talk to friends and family members who’ve had lipoma removal surgeries done by different doctors in the past, then ask them about their experiences with each one of them. You can also check online reviews of different surgeons so that you can get an idea of how much they charge before setting up an appointment with them (and find out whether or not their work is worth the money).
- Ask about cost of surgery before scheduling an appointment with any doctor affiliated with your health insurance company—or even without one—because this will help eliminate any surprises down the line when it comes time for treatment costs!
lipoma removal cost insurance
A lipoma is a growth of fat cells in a thin, fibrous capsule usually found just below the skin. Lipomas aren’t cancer and don’t turn into cancer. They are found most often on the torso, neck, upper thighs, upper arms, and armpits, but they can occur almost anywhere in the body. One or more lipomas may be present at the same time.
Lipomas are the most common noncancerous soft tissue growth.
Lipomas occur in all age groups but most often appear in middle age. Single lipomas occur with equal frequency in men and women. Multiple lipomas occur more frequently in men.
What causes it?
The cause of lipomas is not completely understood, but the tendency to develop them is inherited. A minor injury may trigger the growth. Being overweight does not cause lipomas.
What are the symptoms?
Often the most bothersome symptom is the location or increased size that makes the lipoma noticeable by others.
How is it diagnosed?
A lipoma can usually be diagnosed by its appearance alone. In some cases, your doctor may order an imaging test, such as an ultrasound. Based on the results of the imaging test, your doctor may want to remove it to make sure the growth is noncancerous.
How is a lipoma treated?
Lipomas usually are not treated, because most of them don’t hurt or cause problems. Your doctor might remove the lipoma if it is painful, gets infected, or bothers you.
Most lipomas can be removed in the doctor’s office or outpatient surgery center. The doctor injects a local anesthetic around the lipoma, makes an incision in the skin, removes the growth, and closes the incision with stitches (sutures). If the lipoma is in an area of the body that cannot be easily reached through a simple incision in the skin, the lipoma may need to be removed in the operating room under general anesthesia.
At what size should a lipoma be removed
Lipomas are slow-growing, nearly always benign, adipose tumors that are most often found in the subcutaneous tissues.1 Most lipomas are asymptomatic, can be diagnosed with clinical examination (Table 1) and do not require treatment. These tumors may also be found in deeper tissues such as the intermuscular septa, the abdominal organs, the oral cavity, the internal auditory canal, the cerebellopontine angle and the thorax.2–4 Lipomas have been identified in all age groups but usually first appear between 40 and 60 years of age.5 Congenital lipomas have been observed in children.6 Some lipomas are believed to have developed following blunt trauma.7
While solitary lipomas are more common in women, multiple tumors (referred to as lipomatosis) are more common in men.2,8 Hereditary multiple lipomatosis, an autosomal dominant condition also found most frequently in men, is characterized by widespread symmetric lipomas appearing most often over the extremities and trunk2,9 (Figure 1). Lipomatosis may also be associated with Gardner’s syndrome, an autosomal dominant condition involving intestinal polyposis, cysts, and osteomas.8 The term Madelung’s disease, or benign symmetric lipomatosis, refers to lipomatosis of the head, neck, shoulders, and proximal upper extremities. Persons with Madelung’s disease, often men who consume alcohol, may present with the characteristic “horse collar” cervical appearance.2,10 Rarely, these patients experience swallowing difficulties, respiratory obstruction, and even sudden death.1,2
Evaluation
Lipomas usually present as nonpainful, round, mobile masses, with a characteristic soft, doughy feel. The overlying skin appears normal. Lipomas can usually be correctly diagnosed by their clinical appearance alone.
Microscopically, lipomas are composed of mature adipocytes arranged in lobules, many of which are surrounded by a fibrous capsule. Occasionally, a nonencapsulated lipoma infiltrates into muscle, in which case it is referred to as an infiltrating lipoma.5,11,12
Four other types of lipomas may be noted on a biopsy specimen. Angiolipomas are a variant form with co-existing vascular proliferation.2,11 Angiolipomas may be painful and usually arise shortly after puberty. Pleomorphic lipomas are another variant in which bizarre, multinucleated giant cells are admixed with normal adipocytes.1,13 Pleomorphic lipomas’ presentation is similar to that of other lipomas, but they occur predominantly in men 50 to 70 years of age. A third variant, spindle cell lipomas, has slender spindle cells admixed in a localized portion of regular-appearing adipocytes.14,15 A newly described variant of superficial lipoma, adenolipoma, is characterized by the presence of eccrine sweat glands in the fatty tumor; this type is often located on the proximal parts of the limbs.1
A rare clinical consideration is Dercum’s disease, or adiposis dolorosa, which is characterized by the presence of irregular painful lipomas most often found on the trunk, shoulders, arms, forearms, and legs.8 Dercum’s disease is five times more common in women, is often found in middle age, and has asthenia and psychic disturbances as other prominent features.
Malignancy is rare but can be found in a lesion with the clinical appearance of a lipoma. Liposarcoma presents in a fashion similar to that of a lipoma and appears to be more common in the retroperitoneum, and on the shoulders and lower extremities.8 Some surgeons recommend complete excision of all clinical evidence of a lipoma to exclude a possible liposarcoma, especially in fast-growing lesions.8 Recently, magnetic resonance imaging has been used with some success to differentiate lipomas and liposarcomas.16,17
Treatment
NONEXCISIONAL TECHNIQUES
Nonexcisional treatment of lipomas, which is now common, includes steroid injections and liposuction.
Steroid injections result in local fat atrophy, thus shrinking (or, rarely, eliminating) the lipoma. Injections are best performed on lipomas less than 1 inch in diameter. A one-to-one mixture of 1 percent lidocaine (Xylocaine) and triamcinolone acetonide (Kenalog), in a dosage of 10 mg per mL, is injected into the center of the lesion; this procedure may be repeated several times at monthly intervals.8 The volume of steroid depends on the size of the lipoma, with an average of 1 to 3 mL of total volume administered. The number of injections depends on the response, which is expected to occur within three to four weeks. Complications, which are rare, are the result of the medication or the procedure, and can be prevented by injecting the smallest total amount possible and by positioning the needle so that it is in the center of the lipoma.
Liposuction can be used to remove small or large lipomatous growths, particularly those in locations where large scars should be avoided. Complete elimination of the growth is difficult to achieve with liposuction.8,18 Office procedures using a 16-gauge needle and a large syringe may be safer than large-cannula liposuction. Diluted lidocaine usually provides adequate anesthesia for office liposuction.
PREPARATION FOR EXCISION
Surgical excision of lipomas often results in a cure. Before the surgery, it is often helpful to draw an outline of the lipoma and a planned skin excision with a marker on the skin surface (Figure 2). The outline of the tumor often helps to delineate margins, which can be obscured after administration of the anesthetic. Excision of some skin helps to eliminate redundancy at closure.
The skin is then cleansed with povidone iodine (Betadine) or chlorhexidine (Betasept) solution, making sure to avoid wiping away the skin markings. The area is draped with sterile towels. Local anesthesia is administered with 1 or 2 percent lidocaine with epinephrine, usually as a field block. Infiltrating the anesthetic in the subcutaneous area surrounding the operative field creates a field block.
ENUCLEATION
Small lipomas can be removed by enucleation. A 3-mm to 4-mm incision is made over the lipoma. A curette is placed inside the wound and used to free the lipoma from the surrounding tissue. Once freed, the tumor is enucleated through the incision using the curette. Sutures generally are not needed, and a pressure dressing is applied to prevent hematoma formation.
EXCISION
Larger lipomas are best removed through incisions made in the skin overlying the lipoma. The incisions are configured like a fusiform excision following the skin tension lines and are smaller than the underlying tumor. The central island of skin to be excised is grasped with a hemostat, or Allis clamp, which is used to provide traction for the removal of the tumor (Figure 3). Dissection is then performed beneath the subcutaneous fat to the tumor. Any tissue cutting is performed under direct visualization using a no. 15 scalpel or scissors around the lipoma. Care must be taken to avoid nerves or blood vessels that may lie just beneath the tumor.
Once a portion of lipoma has been dissected from the surrounding tissue, hemostats or clamps can be attached to the tumor to provide traction for removal of the remainder of the growth. Once it is freed, the lipoma is delivered as a whole (Figure 4). The surrounding tissue in the hole can be palpated to ensure complete removal of the tumor. Table 2 lists possible complications of excision.
Adequate hemostasis is achieved following the removal of the lipoma using hemostats or suture ligation. The dead space is closed beneath the skin using buried, interrupted 3-0 or 4-0 Vicryl sutures (Figure 5). Occasionally drains may have to be placed to prevent fluid accumulation, but this should be avoided if possible. The skin is then closed with interrupted 4-0 or 5-0 nylon sutures. A pressure dressing is placed to reduce the incidence of hematoma formation. The patient is given routine wound care instructions, and the wound is checked in two to seven days. The sutures are removed after seven to 21 days, depending on the body location. Specimens should be submitted for histologic analysis.
how much is liposuction for lipoma
A report came from a community member about a CT scan:
70490 Ct soft tissue neck w/o dye, charged $440.92, insurance paid nothing, he paid $440.92 at Queens Medical Imaging. He noted, “Performed at NYU imaging center on Austin Street. Seemed a bit too expensive. “
The bill had a different charge, so I asked some questions and sent back some pricing links, showing the prices in the New York area for this procedure. Here are my questions and his answers:
1. You said the provider was Queens Medical Imaging, but your note said NYU Imaging Center on Austin St. I think Queens Medical Imaging is owned by NYU, is that your impression too? Yes.
2. It looks to us like they charged $1,120 but the “member rate” is the $440.92, is that correct? Correct. Aetna over the phone told me the $1,120 is fictitious. There was no such charge. The member rate charged to me is the only charge. Aetna paid nothing since it was below my annual deductible. And apparently the member rate is what Aetna had negotiated for this service. So I have no idea where the $1120 came from; most likely the imaging center’s inflated chargemaster.
3. Why were you asked to pay this under your deductible, but the other event on the explanation of benefits, a doctor visit? — was covered by insurance? Good question. I forgot. Possibly some plan specific detail under which doctor visits are covered but not any imaging? I would have to check.
One more question — how did you find us? A lot of searching (using duckduckgo, less so google) for any resource that can help me price a lipoma excision procedure.
So, how about a lipoma excision?
Our conversation continued via email:
“I am unable to get any estimate for an upcoming procedure for my doctor, insurance, nor the hospital and I’m afraid I will get ripped off to the tune of my deductible. I am going to cancel if I cannot get an estimate from anyone, perhaps the morning of the procedure.
“I’m thinking I can get someone to issue me an estimate in writing if I’m there and ready to go, else I will say I can walk out the door. I have been calling around to other doctors, but so far no estimates.
“I pitch them with the idea that I will cancel my procedure and hire them for the work if they can give me an estimate. But I just started calling around. I had no idea my own doctor, insurance, and local hospital would treat me this way, and I now have only one week — including a long holiday weekend — to find alternatives. The local hospital after much internal finger pointing and time on the phone finally did estimate a $2500 charge not including my doctor’s fee, nor fee for anesthetics, etc, other fees, etc, if I were uninsured. But that’s not my situation. And I now realize over the phone and not in writing is worthless.
“Thank you for the links. I had no idea the CT scan was a decent price. Or perhaps more accurately, it was not a total rip off as those examples. If it had been $800 it would not have been an outrageous rip off, but still overpriced.”
I answered that I’m interested in writing about this, and sent some resources and suggestions:
3. A doctor’s office is bound to be less expensive than a hospital. I don’t know much about a lipoma treatment, but can it be done in an office? Can you ask 3-4 providers in your network to do the questions above?
‘I shopped around and got a better deal’
“Long story short: I shopped around and got a better deal. Unfortunately my approach was haphazard. I lucked out. I did lots of online searches. I finally found some online message board that included responses from doctors about various procedures, and one in which a doctor spoke about pricing and gave a significantly lower ball park estimated price range for a lipoma excision. And that doctor was in my area. I immediately called his office, made the appointment, then set the date for the excision. And today it’s been about a week since that and all is well. I just had stitches removed yesterday.
“I did some phone work as well, prior to this stroke of luck. But all the other doctors’ offices I ever called were worthless. Most never returned my calls. Those that I spoke with refused to deal with me unless I made an appointment and paid a consultation fee. I usually got attitude from the receptionists. Never mind that I already knew what I had, along with a CT scan, and knew exactly what needed to be done; I just needed an estimate. Nobody would give me an estimate. Nobody would even try to beat the estimate I already had.
“In retrospect I think the fact that my second doctor is a plastic surgeon might be significant. My first doctor was not a plastic surgeon, and this may have been a factor in his preference to do the excision in a hospital. The plastic surgeon thought going to a hospital was highly unnecessary — in his own words — and told me he could perform the excision in his office. Obviously that saved a bundle. Perhaps he had better facilities on site too. So far I have been very pleased with his work. His sutures were done very carefully, with more than one layer, which is significant in that some other doctors don’t seem to bother with more than one set of stitches. And it seems my scar will be rather small. Not that I cared much about the scar to begin with since it was not in a prominent location but it’s nice to know he was meticulous about his work. I paid cash and it was worth every penny.”
I asked him if there were any lessons to be learned, and if I could write about this event. He said yes, but please leave his name out.
The final cost was $750, including consultation, plus $90 for lab tests to assess whether it was malignant — not the $2,500 that he was quoted before. I asked if he knew the procedure code, and he answered: “I would not know the code. Insurance was not involved.”
The surgeon was Doctor Robert Kraft, who practices in Forest Hills, Queens.
The original surgeon with the higher estimate was a general surgery specialist.
He found the doctor on realself.com, after searching Duckduckgo and Google … “forgot which found it for me. Search terms included: lipoma, cost, price. And maybe my state or city. I tried so many searches.”
“I did searches over many days actually, totaling many hours. I did not keep track but I was hitting the search engines with different search terms every day for a good while each day, for some time until, I found my doctor. A lot of patience was required. And reading. “