Venous malformations are congenital developmental abnormalities that consist of enlarged dysplastic blood vessels. The tongue is a common site of venous malformations in the head and neck region. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of using electrochemical therapy (ECT) combined with local injection of pingyangmycin (PYM) for venous malformations in the tongue.
60 patients (20 male and 40 female; age range, 8 to 68 yr) with venous malformations in the tongue were treated with a combination of ECT and PYM injection or with local injection of PYM alone in the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery of the stomatological hospital of China Medical University from January 2013 through June 2019. Among them, 30 patients (group A) were treated with ECT combined with PYM injection for tongue venous malformations and 30 patients (group B) were treated with local injection of PYM alone for tongue venous malformations. The size of the lesions in the two groups varied from 3.5 × 3 × 3 to 8 × 6 × 5 cm. There was no statistical difference in the volume of the lesions between group A and group B (
During the follow-up period from 6 months to 3 years, 60 patients achieved different degree of improvement, with a total effective rate of 85%. 30 patients in the group A received ECT combined with local injection of PYM, with an effective rate of 97%. 30 patients in the group B received local injection of PYM alone, with an effective rate of 73%. The effectiveness of ECT combined with PYM injection in the group A was significantly higher than that of PYM injection alone in the group B (
Electrochemical therapy combined with local injection of pingyangmycin was a reliable, safe and minimally invasive method for the treatment of venous malformation in the tongue. The treatment modality has fewer complications and is worth of further promotion in clinic.