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Guiotto et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2023;10:26 Plastic and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2023.15
Aesthetic Research

Original Article Open Access

Surgical management of genital lymphoedema:
experience and critical considerations from a tri-

center study

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Martino Guiotto , Michele Maruccia , Rossella Elia , Marco Fresa , Lidia Molinari , Marie Nicod Lalonde ,
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Corrado Campisi , Pietro Giovanni di Summa 1
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Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne 1011, Switzerland.
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Department of Plastic Surgery, Bari University Hospital, Bari 70124, Italy.
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Angiology Department, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne 1011, Switzerland.
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Department of Plastic Surgery, Lymphatic Unit, San Martino Hospital, Genova 16132, Italy.
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Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne 1011, Switzerland.
Correspondence to: Prof. Pietro Giovanni di Summa, Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, Department of Plastic and
Hand Surgery Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Rue du Bugnon 46, Lausanne 1011, Switzerland. E-mail:
pietro.di-summa@chuv.ch
How to cite this article: Guiotto M, Maruccia M, Elia R, Fresa M, Molinari L, Lalonde MN, Campisi C, Summa PGd. Surgical
management of genital lymphoedema: experience and critical considerations from a tri-center study. Plast Aesthet Res
2023;10:26. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2023.15
Received: 16 Feb 2023 First Decision: 6 May 2023 Revised: 15 May 2023 Accepted: 25 May 2023 Published: 2 Jun 2023
Academic Editor: Nicole Lindenblatt Copy Editor: Dan Zhang Production Editor: Dan Zhang

Abstract
Aim: Genital lymphoedema (GL) is a chronic and debilitating disease, which can severely affect the patient’s
quality of life with significant socio-economic impact. Nowadays, no gold standard algorithm exists for GL from
diagnosis to treatment. This study proposes our therapeutic flowchart based on the three senior consultants’
experience in lymphatic surgery.

Methods: A retrospective investigation was conducted on a prospectively maintained database (2018-2022).
Inclusion criteria involved all patients who underwent surgical procedures for treating GL in three plastic surgery
departments (Lausanne, Bari, and Genova). Outcomes were assessed in terms of oedema reduction, stage
regression, and functional reported outcomes.

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

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