What Do We Know About Lymphedema? Review Article

Atthawit  Mongkronwong; Chanatip  Nilkarn; Nutthawut Akaranuchat

doi:10.33192/Smj.2021.39

Authors

Atthawit Mongkronwong Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, Thailand http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7435-6980
Chanatip Nilkarn Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, Thailand
Nutthawut Akaranuchat Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1798-8484

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33192/Smj.2021.39

Keywords:

Lymphedema, lymphatic obstruction, lymphatic reconstruction, lymphatic surgery, lymphaticovenous anastomosis, lymph node transfer

Abstract

Lymphedema can cause by a congenital anomaly, an infectious disease, chronic inflammation, connective tissue disease, and cancer. The most common presenting symptoms are swelling of the affected limb, difficulty wearing clothes, and disturbances to daily life activities. Most of the time, patients have a high chance of developing a soft tissue infection that will jeopardize the quality of their life and socioeconomic status. As to management of the disease, it necessary to make a precise diagnosis and clinico-pathological staging in order to guide the treatment plan and yield optimum results. Currently, surgical management for lymphedema is based on the use of 1) physiological treatment, and 2) reductive or ablative procedures. Conservative treatment (especially for complete decongestive therapy) is still the mainstay for the management of lymphedema.

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