Long-term results in the surgical treatment of lymphedema

Summary In the irreversible stage of lymphedema corrective surgery is often mandatory. A choice has to be made between two different basic selective procedures. As no totally satisfactory surgical method has as yet been established surgical management is difficult and implies considerable personal responsibility. This is a report on the long-term results of operations carried out on 16 patients between 1958 and 1979 using the so called Charles procedure. It concludes that this radical operation gives an acceptable long-term result in long-standing, elephantiastic primary lymphedema of the lower extremity.