[Clinical lymphographic diagnosis of posttraumatic edema in the substitution of bone defects]

The method of direct "lower" lymphography of the medial superficial collector was used for the examination of 11 patients with a moderate chronic posttraumatic edema developed against the background of atrophy of muscle tissues before and in the process of substituting bone defects after Ilizarov. In substituting bone defects against the background of a previous posttraumatic blockade of lymph vessels and their alterations there appears a complete or partial decompensation of the lymph flow, resulting in the development of edema in the atrophied earlier segments of lower extremities. In part of the patients with substituted bone defects the edema increased with persistent previous alterations. In other ones there appeared new foci of the rearrangement of lymph vessels.