ArticleGland surgery2020
Impact of body mass index on long-term surgical outcomes of vascularized lymph node transfer in lymphedema patients.
Article in Gland surgery, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Review
- Bariatric Lymphedema One-Stage Operative Management (BLOOM).Obesity surgery · 2025Article
- Vascularized Lymph Node Transfer for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Lower Extremity Lymphedema: A Preliminary Report.Indian journal of plastic surgery : official publication of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India · 2022Article
- Cellulitis Is Associated with Severe Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: An Observational Study of Tissue Composition.Cancers · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundVascularized lymph node transfer (VLNT) is a surgical procedure with high interest to treat lymphedema. Body mass index (BMI) is a well-described factor that increases the risk of lymphedema, but little is known about its influence on the surgical outcomes of lymphedema patients who undergo VLNT. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of preoperative BMI on the long-term surgical outcomes after VLNT in lymphedema patients.
methodsWe retrospectively compiled data of patients with International Society of Lymphology (ISL) stage II or III lymphedema who were treated with VLNT from July 2010 to July 2016 at China Medical University Hospital. Preoperative and postoperative demographic and clinical data, such as limb circumference and number of infection episodes were reviewed. Statistical analyses compared circumference reduction rates and infection episode reduction between preoperative BMI categories was done. In addition, prediction of outcomes based on quantitative preoperative BMI was analyzed.
resultsA total of 83 patients met the inclusion criteria. Nine patients (10.8%) were normal weight, 43 (51.8%) were overweight, and 31 (37.3%) were obese. Compared with normal-weight patients, mean circumference reduction rates were significantly lower in overweight (P=0.005) and obese patients (P=0.02), but quantitative BMI was not correlated with circumference reduction rate (P=0.96). However, obese patients had a significantly greater reduction in infection episodes than normal-weight patients (P=0.03). In addition, greater BMI predicted greater reduction in infection episodes after VLNT (P=0.02).
conclusionsVLNT is an effective surgical treatment, especially for lymphedema patients with higher preoperative BMIs. The results of our study suggest that this procedure considerably decreases the number of postoperative infection episodes per year in obese patients, even though preoperative BMI does not influence circumference reduction rate.
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