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Minasian et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2022;9:18 Plastic and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2021.128
Aesthetic Research

Review Open Access

Post-traumatic lymphedema: review of the literature
and surgical treatment options

2
1
Raquel A. Minasian , Yasmina Samaha , Philip S. Brazio 2
1
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
90033, USA.
2
Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
Correspondence to: Dr. Philip S. Brazio, Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8635 W 3rd
St #770W, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA. E-mail: dr.brazio@gmail.com

How to cite this article: Minasian RA, Samaha Y, Brazio PS. Post-traumatic lymphedema: review of the literature and surgical
treatment options. Plast Aesthet Res 2022;9:18. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2021.128

Received: 1 Dec 2021 First Decision: 27 Dec 2021 Revised: 14 Jan 2022 Accepted: 26 Jan 2022 Published: 12 Mar 2022
Academic Editor: Matthew L. Iorio Copy Editor: Yue-Yue Zhang Production Editor: Yue-Yue Zhang

Abstract
Post-traumatic lymphedema (PTL) is a complex, debilitating, and potentially common disease which has received
limited attention to date. The available literature is reviewed to identify injury patterns and critical lymphatic areas
associated with the disease. A deeper understanding of these critical anatomic regions allows the reconstructive
surgeon to potentially identify PTL patients earlier in order to apply surgical and nonsurgical interventions in the
acute phase, improving lymphatic physiology and, ultimately, patient outcomes. Current diagnostic and treatment
approaches are discussed in detail, with a focus on lymphatic microsurgical techniques developed and applied to
PTL within the last decade.
Keywords: Post-traumatic lymphedema, traumatic lymphedema, secondary lymphedema, lymphatic
reconstruction, lymphatic restoration

INTRODUCTION
The advent of improved lymphatic imaging and supermicrosurgical techniques has rapidly expanded
treatment options for lymphedema in the last decade. Improvements in treatment have been accompanied
by renewed interest in the physiology, etiology, and prevention of lymphedema. Amid a resurgence of
lymphedema research, post-traumatic lymphedema (PTL) remains a poorly understood and

© The Author(s) 2022. 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,
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