Venous malformations with lip involvement: palliative treatment with carbon dioxide laser vaporization in five cases.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of venous malformations remains controversial. Traditional surgical excision is only possible in a few cases. Numerous sclerosing agents have been used, but none of them are ideal or absolutely safe for the treatment of venous disorders. In isolated cases, an expectative control would be a good option. OBJECTIVE: To report our experience with CO(2) laser vaporization as palliative treatment in five cases of head and neck venous malformations with lip involvement. METHODS: Five patients were treated with a CO(2) laser in superpulsed, focused mode at 2 W/cm(2), with several passes in each session. Patients were aged from 16 to 49 years old (mean: 36.6 years). Three sessions of treatment were performed in two patients while only one session was used in the rest. The follow-up was 6-36 months (mean: 22.8 months). RESULTS: Significant cosmetic improvement with flattening of the lip surface was achieved in all patients. CONCLUSION: Carbon dioxide laser vaporization can be considered as one method of choice for an effective palliative treatment of lip involvement in venous malformations.