ReviewCancers2020
Systematic Review of Patient-Reported Outcomes following Surgical Treatment of Lymphedema.
Review in Cancers, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lymphovenous bypass for the treatment of secondary lymphedema: A meta-analysis of prospective outcomes.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2025Pooled it
- Microsurgical versus complex physical decongestive therapy for chronic breast cancer-related lymphoedema.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of routine provision of feedback from patient-reported outcome measurements for cancer care improvement: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2023Pooled it
- Vascularized omental lymphatic transplant for upper extremity lymphedema: A systematic review.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Pooled it
- Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Lymphedema: A Systematic Review and COSMIN Analysis.Annals of surgical oncology · 2021Pooled it
- Article
- Factors Influencing the Use of Mobile Apps and Wearables: Pre- and Post-Surgery Quality of Life Assessment Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Measuring What Matters for Breast Cancer Survivors: Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Croatian Version of Lymphedema Quality of Life Tool-Arm.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Vascularized lymph node transfer (VLNT) versus lymphaticovenous anastomosis (LVA) for chronic breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL): a retrospective cohort study of effectiveness over time.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2025Article
- Development of an All-Wales National Health Service Surgical Lymphedema Supermicrosurgery Service.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- The Translation and Cultural Adaptation of LYMPH-Q Upper Extremity Module to the Indonesian Language.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025Article
- Article
- Advances in surgical management of chronic lymphedema: current strategies and future directions.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2025Review
- Advances in etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of lymphedema: a comprehensive review.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Lymphedema Quality of Life Questionnaire (LYMQOL) in German-Speaking Patients with Upper Limb Lymphedema.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Current diagnostic and quantitative techniques in the field of lymphedema management: a critical review.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2024Review
- Demonstrating the benefit of a cellulitis-specific patient reported outcome measure (CELLUPROMJournal of patient-reported outcomes · 2024Article
- Improving quality of life after breast cancer: a comparison of two microsurgical treatment options for breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL).Clinical and experimental medicine · 2024Article
- Impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on breast cancer-related lymphedema after axillary lymph node dissection: a retrospective cohort study.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2024Article
- Demystifying vascularized lymph node transfers and lymphatico-venous anastomoses.Annals of translational medicine · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionAnalysis of quality of life (QOL) outcomes is an important aspect of lymphedema treatment since this disease can substantially impact QOL in affected individuals. There are a growing number of studies reporting patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) for patients with lymphedema. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of outcomes and utilization of PROMs following surgical treatment of lymphedema.
methodsA literature search of four databases was performed up to and including March, 2019. Studies included reported on QOL outcomes after physiologic procedures, defined as either lymphovenous bypass (LVB) or vascularized lymph node transplant (VLNT), to treat upper and/or lower extremity primary or secondary lymphedema.
resultsIn total, 850 studies were screened-of which, 32 studies were included in this review. Lymphovenous bypass was the surgical intervention in 16 studies, VLNT in 11 studies, and both in 5 studies. Of the 32 total studies, 16 used validated survey tools. The most commonly used PROM was the lymph quality of life measure for limb lymphedema (LYMQOL) (12 studies). In the remaining four studies, the upper limb lymphedema 27 scale (ULL27), the short form 36 questionnaire (SF-36), the lymphedema functioning, disability and health questionnaire (Lymph-ICF), and lymphedema life impact scale (LLIS) were each used once. QOL improvement following surgical treatment was noted in all studies.
conclusionsPhysiologic surgical treatment of lymphedema results in improved QOL outcomes in most patients. The use of validated PROM tools is increasing but there is no current consensus on use. Future research to evaluate the psychometric properties of PROMs in lymphedema is needed to guide the development and use of lymphedema-specific tools.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.