Standardization and validation of indirect titrimetry to evaluate the results of surgical treatment of lymphedema

• Grant number: 14/02569-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2014
• End date: October 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Alfredo Carlos Simões Dornellas de Barros
• Grantee: Aline Carolina Capellato Dias
• Host Institution: Hospital Sírio-Libanês. Sociedade Beneficente de Senhoras (SBSHSL). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Lymphedema is clinically manifested by the increase of the volume of a body segment, and is more common in members. Congenital or acquired, this imbalance between production and drainage of lymph can cause frames of significant for a relevant number of patients. Intensive physiotherapy and continuous use of meshes are the standard treatment, but these treatments are cumbersome and difficult to grip. New surgical techniques seeking a functional treatment for lymphedema have been developed recently. Proper evaluation of the results of these treatments depends on the development of a tool for measuring the volume of an individual easy to apply, reproducible and able to be performed during an outpatient follow-up. The objective of this work is to determine a combination of measurements of the circumference of a member to provide, through the use of a geometric formula (truncated cone), the best approximation of the actual volume of this member. The tool can be validated on data from the world's largest series of patients operated with the technical transfer of lymph node flap. (AU)