Can ILR Reduce the Risk of Arm Lymphedema?

Can Immediate Lymphatic Reconstruction With Lymphatico-Venous Anastomosis Reduce the Occurrence of Arm Lymphedema in Breast Cancer Patients After Axillary Lymph Node Dissection? A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial.

Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a debilitating, usually lifelong burden for breast cancer survivors. For the breast cancer patients receiving axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), the likelihood of BCRL is about 20%. Lymphatico-venous anastomosis (LVA) has been accepted as a method of treating extremity lymphedema. A few studies have mentioned the prophylactic effect of LVA on BCRL. However, there is still lack of a large-scale randomized controlled trial to corroborate its efficacy. Therefore, the goal of this study is to conduct a prospective randomized controlled trial to evaluate if immediate lymphatic reconstruction (ILR) with LVA could have a clinically significant effect on the reduction of BCRL occurrence.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Female patients with unilateral breast cancer
2. Going to receive axillary lymph node dissection, or sentinel lymph node biopsy but being highly suspected of axillary metastasis preoperatively

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Had received axillary lymph node dissection
2. Going to receive bilateral axillary lymph node dissections
3. Already have arm lymphedema
4. Allergy to the dye used intraoperatively