Foreign body granulomas

Last Updated: 2023-07-07

Author(s): Anzengruber F., Navarini A.

ICD11: EH93.3

Entity described by

Pinkus and Bortvinick 1957

Definition

Granulomatous reaction triggered by foreign bodies.

Epidemiology

They are the most common granulomatous diseases.

Etiopathogenesis

Trauma: After foreign bodies have penetrated the skin (milking granuloma, barber's granuloma, pilonidal sinus, sea urchin sting)

In the course of medical treatments (paraffin, sutures, silicone)

Body's own products: Gout (urate crystals), necrotic fatty tissue (lipophagic granuloma).

There is the expression of a granulomatous reaction, in the sense of a disorderly accumulation of macrophages with foreign body giant cells.

Clinical features

Skin-coloured, derb-palpable, well-defined nodules and plaques.

Dermatopathology

Different dermatopathological patterns are possible (sarcoid, necrobiotic granuloma, zirconium granuloma). The foreign bodies are detectable by polarisation optics.

Therapy

Excision.

If necessary, Kenacort

Silicone granulomas: trial isotretinoin p.o. 0.5 mg / kg bw daily for 6 months.

References

Friedrich RE et al. Paraffinoma of lips and oral mucosa: Case report and brief review of the literature. GMS Interdiscip Plast Reconstr Surg DGPW. 2014 May 15;3.