Surgery

Biography

Biography: Alicia Huff Vinyard

Abstract

Background: Lymphedema (LE) is a serious complication of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) with an incidence rate of 16%. Lymphatic microsurgical preventing healing approach (LYMPHA) has been proposed as an effective adjunct to ALND for the prevention of LE. This procedure however requires microsurgical techniques.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the efficiency of simplified-LYMPHA (SLYMPHA) in preventing LE in a prospective cohort of patients.

Methodology: All patients, undergoing ALND with or without SLYMPHA between January 2014 and December 2016 were included in the study. SLYMPHA is a slightly modified and simplified version of LYMPHA. It is performed by the operating surgeon performing the ALND. One or more lymphatic channels identified by reverse arm mapping are inserted using a sleeve technique into the cut end of a neighboring vein. During follow-up visits, tape-measuring limb circumference method was used to detect clinical LE. Demographic, clinical, surgical and pathologic factors were recorded. The incidence of clinical LE was compared between ALND with and without SLYMPHA. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to assess the role of other factors in the appearance of clinical LE.

Results: 406 patients were included in the study. SLYMPHA procedure was attempted in 81 patients and was completed successfully in 90% of patients. Early complication rates were similar between patients who underwent SLYMPHA and who did not (4% vs. 4.13%; p=0.948). Median follow-up time was 15±13.73 [1-32] months. Patients, who underwent SLYMPHA, had a significantly lower rate of clinical LE both in univariate and multivariate analysis (3% vs 19%; p=0.001; OR 0.12 [0.03-0.5]). Excising >22 lymph nodes and a co-diagnosis of diabetes were also correlated with higher clinical LE rates on univariate analysis, but only excising >22 lymph nodes remained to be significant on multivariate analysis.