Ricerc@Sapienza

The principal therapy for lymphedema was for a long period the conservative non surgical treatment. The first surgical procedures were really invasive with obvious disfiguring surgical outcomes, leading to a partial surgical success at long term follow-up.
Nowadays the surgical option available are considerably less invasive and efficient in reducing the limb volume, the risk of developing cellulitis and necessity of compressive sleeves. The microsurgical procedure such as limphatic-venous anastomosis, lymphatico-lymphatic bypass and lymph node vascularized transfer have been shown to be effective in treating the excess lymphatic fluid component and therefore reduce the size of the affected limb. To perform such procedures, it is necessary to use magnification instruments to operate on venous and lymphatic vessels of 0.15 / 1 mm in diameter. Our research project is aimed to assess the effectiveness of prophylactic treatment by lymphatic-venous, lymphatic-lymphatic anastomosis and vascular lymph node transfer in preventing the development of lymphedema following axillary lymphadenectomy in breast cancer patients. It is now well-established, even from the constitution of "breast units", the importance of addressing the problems associated with breast cancer totally from the oncological safety to functional problems and aesthetic consideration.