Infantile Hemangiomas: A Review of Current Treatment Options

Abstract

This literature review outlines the current pathogenesis, clinical features, and complications of infantile hemangiomas and explores the current treatment modalities, including corticosteroids, surgery, pulsed dye laser, and beta-blockers. Although oftentimes benign, these lesions can potentially lead to physical or cosmetic disfigurement in growing children. The issue of depth and location-dependent treatment for infantile hemangiomas is explored as it reveals which treatments are correlated with better outcomes in specific presentations. For example, beta-blockers were found to be an effective first-line treatment for superficial infantile hemangiomas specifically, whereas the pulsed dye laser procedure was shown to be an effective option for deep hemangiomas, speeding up the involution process when combined with other treatment modalities and reducing scarring in ulcerated hemangiomas. Although the various infantile hemangioma treatment modalities available are appropriately tailored to specific cases of hemangiomas, they are also not without significant, sometimes life-threatening complications. This is why this literature review aims to outline the therapeutic benefits and risks of all treatment modalities to aid in the establishment of optimal case-dependent treatments. [ Pediatr Ann . 2023;52(5):192–197.]