eMedicine Specialties > General Surgery > Lymphatic System

Lymphedema: Follow-up

Author: Don R Revis Jr, MD, Consulting Staff, Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Sep 29, 2009

Outcome and Prognosis

At present, no cure for lymphedema exists. Surgery is palliative at best, and it may be a part of the lifelong therapy patients must endure to manage this disease.

Future and Controversies

A myriad of surgical procedures have been advocated, reflecting a lack of clear superiority of one procedure over the others. Multiple physiological and excisional techniques have been described. None of the physiological techniques has clearly documented favorable long-term results; further evaluation is necessary. Moreover, many of the physiologic techniques also include an excisional component, making it difficult to distinguish between the 2 approaches.

 


More on Lymphedema

Overview: Lymphedema
Workup: Lymphedema
Treatment: Lymphedema
Follow-up: Lymphedema
Multimedia: Lymphedema
References
Further Reading
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References

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Keywords

lymphedema, lymphoedema, lymphedema treatment, lymphedema therapy, filariasis, lymphatic filariasis, lymphedema compression, lymphedema pump, lymphatic dysfunction, accumulation of interstitial fluid containing high molecular weight proteins, lymphatic system, breast cancer surgery, axillary lymphadenectomy, primary lymphedema, congenital lymphedema, lymphedema praecox, lymphedema tarda, Milroy disease, Meige disease, Meige's disease, secondary lymphedema

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Don R Revis Jr, MD, Consulting Staff, Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine
Don R Revis Jr, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Surgeons, American Medical Association, American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and American Society of Plastic Surgeons
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment

Managing Editor

Amy L Friedman, MD, Professor of Surgery, Director of Transplantation, State University of New York Upstate Medical University College of Medicine, Syracuse
Amy L Friedman, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Surgeons, American Medical Association, American Medical Women's Association, American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, American Society of Transplantation, Association for Academic Surgery, Association of Women Surgeons, International College of Surgeons, International Liver Transplantation Society, New York Academy of Sciences, Pennsylvania Medical Society, Philadelphia County Medical Society, Society of Critical Care Medicine, and Transplantation Society
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Michael E Zevitz, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Finch University of the Health Sciences, The Chicago Medical School; Consulting Staff, Private Practice
Michael E Zevitz, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Cardiology, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, and Michigan State Medical Society
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

John Geibel, MD, DSc, MA, Vice Chairman, Professor, Department of Surgery, Section of Gastrointestinal Medicine and Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine; Director of Surgical Research, Department of Surgery, Yale-New Haven Hospital
John Geibel, MD, DSc, MA is a member of the following medical societies: American Gastroenterological Association, American Physiological Society, American Society of Nephrology, Association for Academic Surgery, International Society of Nephrology, New York Academy of Sciences, and Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract
Disclosure: AMGEN Royalty Other

 
 
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