Abstracts of the 12th National Congress of the Italian Polyspecialistic Society of Young Surgeons (SPIGC)

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 172 KB
• Volume: 70
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-4790
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9098(1999)70:4+<32::aid-jso7>3.0.co;2-m

✦ Synopsis

Introduction: Microsurgery in managing peripheral lymphedema allowed to move from the debulking traditional surgery, which aimed at treating effects of the disease, towards a functional therapy, with the cure of lymph stasis by the therapy directly of the same cause of lymphedema, performing lympho-venous derivative or reconstructive (interpositioned vein graft) microsurgical methods. Methods: The role of Lymphatic Microsurgery in relation to medical and physical treatment is particularly pointed out. The two methods must not be considered antitetic, but advantageously complementary, in order to obtain better results, stable with time, and to decrease social and sanitary costs. Results: The positive clinical outcome of our School wide clinical experience (843 patients, in 25 years of activity in this field) were assessed both clinically (limb circumferences and edema volume) and instrumentally by lymphangioscintigraphy, which allowed to demonstrate the patency of anastomoses at medium and long term after microsurgical operation (even at over 10 years from Microsurgery). Discussion and conclusions: An accurate diagnostic study is very important to select patients candidate for Microsurgery. The more precocious the repair of lymphatic pathways is, when there is a block, the better results can be reached.