Open Access
CC BY 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2023; 50(05): 514-522
DOI: 10.1055/a-2117-4478
Extremity/Lymphedema
Original Article

The Quality of Life after Lymphaticovenous Anastomosis in 118 Lower Limb Lymphedema Patients

Jin Geun Kwon 
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
,
Yeongsong Kim 
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
,
Min Young Jang
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
,
Hyunsuk Peter Suh 
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
,
Changsik John Pak 
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
,
Vaughan Keeley 
2   Lymphoedema Service, Royal Derby Hospital, Derby, United Kingdom
,
Jae Yong Jeon 
3   Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
,
Joon Pio Hong 
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
› Author Affiliations
Funding This study was supported by a grant (2021IL0035) from the Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT; NRF-2019R1C1C1008451)
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Abstract

Background This is a prospective study on 118 patients who underwent lymphaticovenous anastomosis (LVA) due to secondary lower limb lymphedema between January 2018 and October 2020 to evaluate patients' quality of life (QOL) using the Quality of Life Measure for Limb Lymphedema (LYMQoL) questionnaire.

Methods The outcome measurement included the LYMQoL leg scoring system tool evaluating the function, appearance, symptom, mood, and overall outcome. In addition, correlation analysis was performed for three factors: based on International Society of Lymphology (ISL) stages, disease duration, and amount of volume reduction.

Results The LYMQoL tool overall satisfaction score significantly increased at all intervals from 4.4 ± 0.2 preoperative to 6.5 ± 0.3 postoperative at 12 months (p < 0.001). Significant findings were seen for each domain scores compared preoperatively and at 12 months: function score (18.6 ± 0.5 to 15.4 ± 0.6), appearance score (17.8 ± 0.5 to 16.0 ± 0.6), symptom score (11.8 ± 0.3 to 8.9 ± 0.4), and mood score (14.5 ± 0.4 to 11.4 ± 0.5; p < 0.05). The correlation analysis between improvement of the overall score and the ISL stage (p = 0.610, correlation coefficient [r] = − 0.047), disease duration (p = 0.659, r = − 0.041), and amount of limb volume reduction (p = 0.454, r = − 0.070) showed no statistical significance.

Conclusion The QOL of secondary lower limb lymphedema patients was significantly improved after LVA regardless of the severity of disease, duration of disease, and amount of volume reduction after LVA. Understanding the patient-reported outcome measurement will help the surgeons to manage and guide the expectations of the patients.

Keywords

quality of life - lymphedema - patient-reported outcome measures

Author's Contributions

K.J.G. was responsible for conceptualization, analysis of data, interpretation of data, and drafting. Y.K. was responsible for conceptualization, acquisition of data, and analysis of data. M.Y.J. was responsible for conceptualization and acquisition of data. H.P.S. was responsible for conceptualization, interpretation of data, and writing-review and editing. C.J.P. was responsible for conceptualization, interpretation of data, and writing-review, and editing. V.K. was responsible for conceptualization, writing-review, and editing. J.Y.J. was responsible for conceptualization, writing-review, and editing. J.P.H. was responsible for conceptualization, interpretation of data, supervision, writing-review and editing, and final approval.


Ethical Approval

The study was approved by the institutional review board of Asan Medical Center (approval number: 20191271).


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 30 October 2022

Accepted: 15 June 2023

Accepted Manuscript online:
26 June 2023

Article published online:
08 September 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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