A Prospective Evaluation of Lymphedema-Specific Quality-of-Life Outcomes Following Vascularized Lymph Node Transfer

Background Microsurgical techniques for the treatment of lymphedema rapidly increased in popularity. Although surgical success with vascularized lymph node (VLN) transfer has been demonstrated, limited studies have investigated the influence of microsurgical treatments on health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) parameters. The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate changes in HRQoL following VLN transfer for upper- and lower-extremity lymphedema using a validated instrument. Methods An Institutional Review Board-approved prospective study was performed of patients who underwent VLN transfer for symptomatic upper- or lower-limb lymphedema. A validated lymphedema-specific questionnaire—lymphoedema quality-of-life study—was utilized to assess specific quality-of-life parameters at multiple time points during the 12-month perioperative period. For a comparison with HRQoL metrics, limb circumference measurements were obtained to assess circumference differentiation. Results Twenty-five patients met the study criteria. Limb circumference analysis revealed significant early improvements following VLN transfer, with continued improvement during the study period (upper-limb lymphedema: 24.4 %; lower-limb lymphedema: 35.2 %). These improvements were mirrored by improvements in all HRQoL domains and overall quality of life ( p