Trial reportAnnals of surgery2023
Efficacy of Immediate Lymphatic Reconstruction to Decrease Incidence of Breast Cancer-related Lymphedema: Preliminary Results of Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Annals of surgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers, 2 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
63 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- Immediate Lymphatic Reconstruction (ILR) for the Prevention of Lymphedema: A Meta-analysis of Prospective Clinical Trials.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of Immediate Lymphatic Reconstruction in Prevention of Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Microsurgery · 2025Pooled it
- Are We Underestimating Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema? The Impact of Diagnostic Thresholds and Compression Therapy.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Trial
- Lymphedema Rates Following Axillary Lymph Node Dissection With and Without Immediate Lymphatic Reconstruction: A Prospective Trial.Annals of surgical oncology · 2024Trial
- Timing of Surgical Axillary Staging and Impact on Technical Success of Immediate Lymphatic Reconstruction Following Axillary Lymph Node Dissection.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Impact of Obesity on Surgical and Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Immediate Lymphatic Reconstruction.Journal of reconstructive microsurgery · 2026Article
- Cell-Free Adipose Liquid Extract Combined with Vascularized Lymph Node Transfer for Treating Lymphedema: Implications for Human Therapy.Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Lymphovenous Bypass: Past, Present, and Future.Archives of plastic surgery · 2026Article
- Sentinel Lymph Node Positivity and Utility of Frozen Section Diagnosis following Neoadjuvant Therapy in Patients with Clinically Node-Negative, Hormone Receptor-Positive, HER2-Negative Breast Cancer.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Observational
- Hospital Setting Impact on Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema and Quality of Life after Immediate Lymphatic Reconstruction.Plastic and reconstructive surgery · 2026Article
- Using Machine Learning to Predict Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema Following Axillary Lymph Node Dissection.Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- "Debulking" the future of lymphedema surgery: A narrative review.JPRAS open · 2026Review
- Predicting the Future of Aesthetic Surgery: An Artificial Intelligence Framework for Global Publication Forecasting.Aesthetic surgery journal · 2026Observational
- Article
- Review
- Regional Nodal Irradiation Impact on Lymphedema, Surgical Outcomes, and Quality-of-Life Following Mastectomy, Axillary Dissection, and Immediate Lymphatic Reconstruction.Journal of reconstructive microsurgery · 2026Article
- William Halsted's Radical Mastectomy Patients: A Historical Analysis Through Patient Narratives.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2026Article
- Experimental evaluation of dermal lymphatics in preservation of lymphatic function.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2026Article
- Comprehensive overview of management and risk assessment of breast cancer-related lymphedema: a multidisciplinary approach.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the efficacy of immediate lymphatic reconstruction (ILR) for decreasing the incidence of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) after axillary lymph node dissection (ALND).
backgroundDespite encouraging results in small studies, an appropriately powered RCT on ILR has not been performed.
methodsWomen undergoing ALND for breast cancer were randomized in the operating room 1:1 to either ILR, if technically feasible, or no ILR (control). The ILR group underwent lymphatic anastomosis to a regional vein using microsurgical techniques; control group had no repair and cut lymphatics were ligated. Relative volume change (RVC), bioimpedance, quality of life (QoL), and compression use were evaluated at baseline and every 6 months postoperatively up to 24 months. Indocyanine green (ICG) lymphography was performed at baseline and 12 and 24 months postoperatively. The primary outcome was the incidence of BCRL, defined as ≥10% RVC from baseline in the affected extremity at 12-, 18-, or 24-month follow-up.
resultsOf 72 patients randomized to ILR and 72 to control from January 2020 to March 2023, our preliminary analysis includes 99 patients with 12-month follow-up, 70 with 18-month follow-up, and 40 with 24-month follow-up. The cumulative incidence of BCRL was 9.5% in the ILR group and 32% in the control group ( P =0.014). The ILR group had lower bioimpedance values, decreased compression usage, better lymphatic function on ICG lymphography, and better QoL than the control group.
conclusionsPreliminary results of our RCT show that ILR after ALND decreases BCRL incidence. Our goal is to finish the accrual of 174 patients with 24-month follow-up.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.