Intramuscular venous malformations of the calf: Surgical treatment outcomes of 57 patients. (September 2020) - Laurian, Claude
Objectives: To report the outcomes of surgical treatment of calf intramuscular venous malformations (IMVMs) on pain, functional limitation, and quality of life. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 57 consecutive patients who had surgery for IMVM of the posterior compartment of the leg between 2010 and 2015. Treatments were all done at a single institution. Results: Patients presented with pain (52), muscle contracture (14), or pulmonary embolism (4). Muscle involvement included the soleus muscle (n = 28, 49%), the gastrocnemius muscle (n = 25, 43%), and deep muscles (n = 4, 7%). Complete excision was possible in 52 patients (91%) and partial excision in 5 (9%). Thirty-five of 46 patients who had an MRI follow-up at six months had no residual venous malformation. At the final follow-up (mean 39 months), 32 of 40 patients seen had no residual pain and 37 had no residual functional impairment. Conclusion: In cases where IMVM is located in one muscle in the leg, we demonstrated that surgery yielded improvement in pain, function, and quality of life.