Evaluation by a physician experienced with hemangioma management or a multidisciplinary team is recommended. Some physicians prefer interlesional injection of steroid to the oral use. This technique works well in localized and small lesions. Recent reports show no advantage of injection over oral use. Injection in the diaper area is not the treatment of choice.
Injections are extremely painful and require sedation.
Injection does not reduce the side effects. A second pharmacological treatment of hemangioma is interferon. Alpha 2a interferon is an antiviral drug developed in the research of cancer treatments. It was discovered that it had antiangiogenic application. This drug was promising until it was shown that infants on interferon experience a delay in motor development and in severe cases spastic dysplasia.