title: Lymphaticovenular anastomoses for lymphedema treatment: 18 months postoperative outcomes.
abstract: The purpose of this work was to report our initial experience with lymphaticovenular anastomoses (LVA), a controversial technique for lymphedema treatment. Although LVA technique was described many years ago, the procedure is not as widespread as it was supposed to be, taking into account the high impact that lymphedema has in the quality of life of patients. Thus, 12 patients, 5 with lower limb and 7 with upper limb lymphedema, underwent LVA surgery under local anesthesia. Two patients were excluded from the study due to the lack of follow-up. At 18 months, 8 out 10 patients showed a variable objective reduction of the perimeter of the limbs and 9 patients presented a subjective clinical improvement. These results joined to the outcomes of the most experienced surgeons in this field are encouraging, although there are still many issues that need to be addressed with research to optimize the efficacy of this technique.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. cauba@unav.es
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Auba
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marre
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Losada
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hontanilla
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D042601:Lymphatic Vessels / Q000601:surgery*; D008209:Lymphedema / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome