Mir Najib Ahmad, Musharraf Husain, Ajaz Ahmed Wani, Raja Nadeem, Prakhar Gupta, Shahbaz Alam, Mohammad Imran
Lipoma is a benign tumour of mature fat cells/adipocytes which are of mesenchymal origin. It can occur in any part of the gastrointestinal tract but is rarely encountered in the pancreas. Pancreatic lipomas are usually asymptomatic until their size exceeds beyond 2 cm or are found in the head of the pancreas and cause compression / obstruction of the ampulla. Lipomas exceeding 2 cm may ulcerate and can cause anaemia. Histopathological confirmation is rare because surgical intervention is not needed in most cases. Homogeneous lipoid attenuation on computerized tomography distinguishes it from well differentiated liposarcoma. Endoscopic Ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration cytology has been suggested to confirm the diagnosis. Surgical intervention is indicated if the pancreatic lipoma is symptomatic or difficult to distinguish it from liposarcoma non-invasively. We hereby present our experience with one such case of a 50-year-old female who approached our surgical clinic for occasional pain in right upper abdomen with other upper gastrointestinal symptoms.
