The hybrid approach to treating severe lower-extremity lymphoedema

Yuko Takanishi, Yoshihiro Ogawa, Yuichi Hamada and Robert Harris, Journal of Lymphoedema, 2018, Vol 13, No 1

Read the full paper here

Main findings

  • The initial phase of CDT led to a significant improvement in limb reduction.
  • 4 years after the initial phase of treatment there was some return in oedematous volume in the affected limb. The second treatment regimen including the Mobiderm bandage, however, led to an additional reduction in limb volume. Modifications can be made to CDT, such as changing the type of bandaging material used, to maximise the effect of treatment, as were made in this case.
  • Once the patient’s limb size has reduced sufficiently, he or she can undergo plastic surgery in order to remove excess skin flaps, as occurred in this case study.
  • LVA surgery appears to have enhanced the effects achieved during CDT at this point in time. It will be interesting to follow this patient’s management of her lymphoedema to see how successful the LVA procedure is in maintaining the reductions achieved in the long term.