Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 13, 2025
04:38
A Murine Tail Lymphedema Model
Published on: February 10, 2021
6.4K
Surgical Approach to Lymphedema Reduction.
Kristalyn K Gallagher1, Marcos Lopez2, Kathleen Iles2
1The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7213, 1150 POB, 170, Dr. Chapel Hill, Manning, NC, 27599-7213, USA. Kristalyn_gallagher@med.unc.edu.
Current Oncology Reports
|July 29, 2020
Summary
Surgical options can prevent and treat lymphedema after cancer surgery. Combining surgical and non-surgical methods offers the best outcomes for this chronic condition.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Plastic Surgery
- Lymphedema Management
Background:
- Lymphedema is a chronic condition often resulting from cancer treatments like oncologic resection.
- Effective management strategies are crucial for improving patient quality of life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current knowledge on lymphedema pathophysiology, classification, and surgical interventions.
- To explore preventive and therapeutic surgical options for lymphedema reduction.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on surgical techniques for lymphedema prevention and treatment.
- Discussion of diagnostic imaging modalities and conservative management approaches.
Main Results:
- Preventive surgeries (SLNB, ARM, LYMPHA) and de-escalation of axillary surgery reduce lymphedema incidence.
- Novel imaging (lymphoscintigraphy, ICG) aids lymphedema characterization; CDT remains standard treatment.
- Surgical options like VLNT and lymphovenous bypass show promise, especially in advanced stages.
Conclusions:
- Combination therapy (surgical and conservative) yields optimal patient outcomes for lymphedema.
- Standardization of staging, outcome indicators, and data is essential for best practices.
- Surgical interventions play a key role in both preventing and treating lymphedema.
Keywords:
Axillary lymph node dissectionAxillary reverse mappingBreast cancerCombination therapyLymphatic microsurgical preventive healing approach (LYMPHA)Lymphaticovenous anastomosis (LVA)LymphedemaSentinel lymph node biopsySuction-assisted protein lipectomy (SAPL)Surgical excisionSurgical managementVascularized lymph node transfer (VLNT)
