Doctors in China have successfully removed a massive fatty growth weighing around 10 kilograms from the back of a 71-year-old man, reportedly extracting the entire mass in a single piece.
The patient, from Lhasa, had lived with the growth on his back for nearly 30 years. However, the mass began growing rapidly over the past two years, eventually putting significant pressure on the muscles around his back and shoulder.
The large, soft mass extended from the patient’s left shoulder down toward his lower back. Fine blood vessels were also visible across its surface.
As the growth continued to increase in size, doctors decided that surgery was necessary to remove it.
The mass reportedly measured approximately 56 × 54 × 28 centimetres and weighed around 10 kilograms—roughly equivalent to the combined weight of three newborn babies weighing about 3.17 kilograms each.
Surgeons Carefully Removed the Mass
During the procedure, surgeons first made an incision over the mass and then carefully separated it layer by layer. They also tied off the blood vessels supplying the growth as they worked to prevent excessive bleeding.
Despite its enormous size, the surgical team successfully removed the entire mass in one piece.
Remarkably, the patient lost only around 100 millilitres of blood during the operation.
The successful procedure highlights the challenges surgeons can face when removing extremely large soft-tissue growths, particularly those that have developed over many years and become extensively supplied by blood vessels.