Service
Lipoma
A lipoma is a collection of fatty tissue under the skin. It feels soft, moves under your fingers and usually does not hurt.
What concerns does it address?
How is it removed?
A lipoma is removed through an incision of one to two centimetres — smaller than the lipoma itself. First, the lipoma is separated from the surrounding tissue with our own solution; it also constricts the blood vessels, so there is almost no bleeding. The contents of the lipoma are then suctioned out with cannulas suited to its structure, and the capsule is removed whole or in pieces so that the lipoma does not come back. Firmer lipomas, with more connective tissue, are broken up under the skin before removal.
With a larger lipoma, a thin silicone drain is placed through the same incision and removed after two days; this prevents blood collecting in the cavity. The incision is closed in the skin, most often with dissolvable stitches, which do not have to be removed; non-dissolvable stitches are removed after seven to ten days. From the second week the scar is treated with a cream against thickened scars. The removed tissue is sent for histopathological analysis.
We have been developing this technique for about twenty years, prompted by the large scars that patients often have after classic removal of a lipoma. The classic approach — an incision across the whole lump, separating it and stitching — works for a single lipoma, but with multiple lipomas it leaves the body full of scars.
Lipomatosis — when there are many lipomas
In some people there are dozens of lipomas, and in rare cases hundreds — this is lipomatosis. Removing them one by one would take years and leave countless scars. So we remove them by area of the body: one whole arm in one procedure, the abdomen and chest another time, then the back; the gap between procedures on large areas of the body is at least two months.
The plan is made so that the incision is placed over the lipoma in the centre of a group, and the surrounding ones are removed through the same opening with special cannulas and punch instruments — five to ten lumps through a single opening. This kind of procedure is done under sedation with an anaesthetist monitoring you, because the amount of local anaesthetic for a whole area of the body would be too large. After the procedure you wear an elastic bandage or compression garment for a few days.
When is the procedure not suitable?
If a lump is growing quickly, is painful, hard and fixed, or the skin over it has changed, it is not removed with this technique until it is clear what it is — in that case it is removed in the classic way, in full, and analysed. With lipomatosis, several large areas of the body are not operated on at once.
A sebaceous cyst is a collection of the contents of a sebaceous gland, can become inflamed and is removed differently. → Sebaceous cyst An inflammation that keeps coming back under the armpit or in the groin is not a lipoma but a purulent skin infection. → Boils and purulent skin infections A lump on a testicle or in the scrotum is examined with ultrasound and belongs to urology. What it can be and when to come for an examination is described on the page Testicular lump.
General reasons for postponing a procedure (pregnancy, breastfeeding, inflammation, a clotting disorder, smoking): When is a procedure postponed?
Anaesthesia
Before a procedure under general or regional anaesthesia, you are seen by the anaesthetist, who works full time at the clinic; the same doctor is also present during the procedure. The anaesthetic assessment and the anaesthesia for larger operations are included in the price of the procedure. What happens before, during and after anaesthesia is described on the Anaesthesia page.
Risks
Occasional — fluid or blood collecting in the cavity left after a larger lipoma, a bruise that lasts longer than two weeks, a temporary dent in the skin where the lipoma was that fills in over time, altered skin sensation that returns within a few months, regrowth if part of the capsule was left.
Expected, and rare but serious → Risks and complications: what is the course of healing, and what is a complication?
Price
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Lipoma removal with a minimal incision | €150–500 |
| Lipomatosis, per lump | €50–70 |
Specialist and team
Specialty: general surgery.
When the procedure is done under sedation or general anaesthesia, the anaesthesia is led by a specialist in anaesthesiology, resuscitation and intensive care who works full time at the clinic.
In the operating theatre, the surgeon is assisted by head nurse Martina Šereg, with the help of nurses Kristina Jurešić and Mateja Tomorad, and in recovery the care assistant Mirjana Kovačić is with you. Martina also looks after preparation, scheduling and contact after the procedure.
Who will operate is decided at the examination, based on the findings and the type of procedure. You know the name of the surgeon before the procedure and meet them at the examination.
What happens at the examination?
The first examination lasts 30 to 45 minutes on average. The surgeon examines the area you are concerned about, asks about illnesses, medicines, allergies and previous operations, and talks with you about what you expect. If the procedure is appropriate and likely to help, you receive a plan: which procedure is proposed, under which anaesthesia, what recovery looks like and what is included in the price. If the procedure is not needed or would not give you what you expect, you will hear that at the examination too.
What if the result is not as agreed?
The result of a procedure is assessed at a follow-up visit, once the swelling has gone down and the scar has matured, not in the first weeks. If it differs from what was agreed at the examination, the same surgeon carries out the correction.
→ Poliklinika Barbel's correction policy
Frequently asked questions
Does a lipoma have to be removed? No. A lipoma is benign and many people live with one for decades. It is removed when it bothers you — through pressure, rubbing against clothes, its appearance — when it is growing, or when you want to know for certain what it is.
Does a lipoma come back in the same place? If the capsule is removed completely, it does not, as a rule, come back in the same place. If part of the capsule is left, it can grow again. New lipomas in other places can appear regardless of the procedure — that is a tendency, not a consequence of removal.
How much does the result depend on care after the procedure? The larger the procedure, the more it depends on it, but it always does. Healing takes weeks and months and happens almost entirely at home, so the instructions you receive when you go home, about the wound, physical activity and the scar, are part of the procedure, not a recommendation.
Medical review: doctors of Poliklinika Barbel · October 2026.