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Quality of Life in Lymphedema Patients Treated by Microsurgical Lymphatic Vessel Transplantation—A Long-Term Follow-Up

Authors :
Louisa Antonie Hock
Tim Nürnberger
Konstantin Christoph Koban
Paul Severin Wiggenhauser
Riccardo Giunta
Wolfram Demmer
Source :
Life, Vol 14, Iss 8, p 957 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

Introduction: Lymphedema is a chronic condition characterized by the accumulation of lymph fluid in the upper or lower extremities, leading to swelling, discomfort, and disability in everyday life. While various treatment modalities exist, microsurgical lymphatic vessel transplantation (LVT) has emerged as a promising option. However, there is little to no long-term follow-up data regarding patients’ improvement in quality of life for this surgical technique. The present study conducts an investigation of the long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) over more than 20 years in patients with lymphedema treated with LVT and accomplishes this by utilizing an adapted SF-12 survey. Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients who underwent LVT between 1 January 1983 and 1 October 2010 at LMU Clinic Munich (n = 35). Quality of life scores were assessed preoperatively and today in terms of physiological conditions, psychological conditions, and burden of therapy using a SF-12 survey adapted to the symptoms and impairments that chronic lymphedemas are known to cause. Results: Our findings demonstrate a significant improvement in HRQoL following LVT, with notable enhancements in physiological and psychological conditions such as burden of therapy. Physiological conditions showed a significant positive change of 3.2648 (p < 0.01). Psychological conditions improved significantly by a factor of 2.0882 (p < 0.01). Additionally, the burden of therapy improved significantly by 1.5883 points (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Previous studies have already shown a significant improvement of HRQoL within the first postoperative years for patients treated by LVT. This study also demonstrates significant long-term improvement after LVT, thus underlining the effectiveness of using LVT to improve the quality of live for patients with both primary and secondary lymphedema long-term.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20751729
Volume :
14
Issue :
8
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Life
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.5ff6eb49bb94dfab2350e169bf19e98
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/life14080957