ABSTRACT
Infection is a common complication in lymphatic malformations (LMs)/lymphangiomas. An infected LM is typically tense, warm, erythematous, and painful, and there may be systemic signs of toxicity. Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) is the most consistent and highly sensitive abnormal laboratory finding in infective episodes. For patients with recurrent infection, broad-spectrum antibiotics may be chosen as first-line treatment. Often these infections cannot be controlled by oral antibiotics; the patients always need to be hospitalized for intravenous therapy. Longer antibiotic courses of several weeks to prevent recurrent infection are recommended. It is also very important to manage the LM lesion after the infection is controlled. Sclerotherapy would be the first choice to treat the LM lesion in general, but based on the extent of the lesion, location, and relation to important anatomical structures, surgery can be the treatment of choice in certain cases.
