TABLE 3.

Summary of literature reviewed.

Author(s), Year	Participants	MLDT(s)	Results and Outcomes
Schillinger et al11	14 recreational athletes (7 women, 7 men) randomized into treatment and control groups of 7 participants undergoing a graded exercise test to anærobic threshold; consecutive enrollment of participants	Manual Lymph Drainage (Two 45-min sessions, one directly after exercise and a second 24 hrs post) administered by an experienced therapist (not specified)	Significant decrease of: aspartate aminotransferase in the treatment group (12.4 ± 3.8 IU.ml−1 to 10.8 ± 5.9 IU.ml−1) compared to control group (13.5 ± 3.1 IU.ml−1 to 14.5 ± 4.8 IU.ml−1), P < 0.05; lactate dehydrogenase in the treatment group (229.0 ± 64.7 IU.ml−1 to 177.7 ± 54.1 IU.ml−1) compared to control group (220.7 ± 28.8 IU.ml−1 to 220.7 ± 28.8 IU.ml−1), P < 0.05 measured directly after and 48 hrs post-exercise
Harén et al12	26 patients treated by external fixation of a distal radial fracture randomized into treatment (n = 12) and control (n = 14) groups; consecutive enrollment of participants	Vodder Method (Ten 45-min treatments, 18 days post-op over 6 weeks) administered by one occupational therapist	Significant decrease in volume measures between the injured and uninjured hands following removal of an external fixation device in the treatment (39 ± 12 ml) compared to control (64 ± 41 ml) group 3 days after, P = 0.04 and in the treatment (27 ± 9 ml) compared to control (50 ± 35 ml) group 17 days after, P = 0.02
Eisenhart et al2	55 patients admitted to emergency department with an acute ipsilateral 1° or 2° ankle sprain randomized into treatment (n = 28) and control (n = 27) groups; nonconsecutive enrollment of participants	Lymphatic drainage technique as a component of osteopathic manipulative treatment, which as an ensemble consisted of one 10- to 20-min session administered by one doctor of osteopathy in an emergency department	Significant decrease of: edema compared before (2.07 ± 1.3 cm) and 5 to 7 days after (0.91 ± 1.0 cm), P < 0.001 measuring delta circumference (injured-contralateral); pain compared before (6.50 ± 2) and 5 to 7 days after (4.1 ± 1.7), P < 0.001 measured by a visual analog scale (1 to 10)
Weiss4	1 male patient with leg edema following orthopædic trauma	Manual Lymph Drainage (1 year following injury, 3 treatments per week over 7 weeks for 45 to 60 min) as a component of complete decongestive physiotherapy administered by a physical therapist	Upon discharge from therapy, leg edema decreased 74% and two wound areas decreased 89%; 10 weeks following treatment, leg edema decreased 80.9%, one wound healed, and a second wound area decreased 93%
Asplund13	17 female patients with chronic fibromyalgia	Vodder Method (12 treatments over 4 weeks for 1 hr) administered by a therapist (not specified)	Significant improvements in: pain at 4 weeks (P < 0.001) as well as 3 (P < 0.001) and 6 (P < 0.05) months following; stiffness at 4 weeks (P < 0.001) as well as 3 months following (P < 0.01); sleep at 4 weeks (P < 0.001); sleepiness at 4 weeks (P < 0.001) as well as 3 and 6 months following (P < 0.01); well-being at 4 weeks (P < 0.001) as well as 3 months (P < 0.001) following measured by visual analog scales
Lancaster and Crow14	1 female patient with idiopathic Bell's palsy	Thoracic pump technique as a component of osteopathic manipulative treatment, which as an ensemble consisted of two 20-min sessions 1 week apart administered by a doctor of osteopathy	Complete relief of patient's unilateral facial nerve paralysis within 2 weeks while eschewing pharmacologic treatments
Déry et al15	63 Sprague-Dawley anesthetized rats (32 treatment, 31 control) by doctor of osteopathy	Lymph flow enhancing treatment (5 min per hour over 15 hrs) administered	Rate of appearance for fluorescent probe assessing lymph uptake greater during first nine hours of experiment in the treatment compared to control group
Knott et al16	5 healthy adult male mongrel dogs, surgically instrumented	Abdominal and thoracic pump techniques (Two 30-sec sessions at 1 Hz) administered by a doctor of osteopathy	Significant increase in lymphatic flow from 1.57 ± 0.20 mL·min−1 to 4.80 ± 1.73 mL·min−1 with abdominal pump techniques (P < 0.05) and from 1.20 ± 0.41 mL·min−1 to 3.45±1.61 mL·min−1 with thoracic pump techniques (P < 0.05)
Hodge et al17	8 healthy adult mongrel dogs, surgically instrumented	Lymphatic pump technique (abdominal) (Rate of 1 compression per sec for 8 min) administered by a doctor of osteopathy	Lymphatic pump technique (abdominal) significantly increased leukocyte count from 4.8 ± 1.7 × 106 cells/ml of lymph to 11.8 ± 3.6 × 106cells/ml (P < 0.01); lymph flow from 1.13 ± 0.44 ml/min to 4.14 ± 1.29 ml/min (P < 0.05); leukocyte flux from 8.2 ± 4.1 × 106to 60 ± 25 × 106 total cells/min (P < 0.05)