Table 3. Studies characteristics.
| Author and year | Number of patients | Average Age, yr [range] | Lymphedema stage | Lymphedema type | Lymphedema site | Average follow-up, months [range] | Type of liposuction | Related physiologic surgical treatment | Timing between surgical treatments | NOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shi et al. 2003 | 10 | N/A | ND | Secondary | UL | 2×6 mo, 7×2 yr, 1×4 yr | Dry | Lateral thoracic skin flap or LD myocutaneous flap | Single-stage | 4 |
| Qi et al. 2009 | 11 | ND [41–74] | ND | Secondary | UL | 26 [3–60] | Dry | LD myocutaneous pedicle flap transfer and lymph-fascia grafting | Single-stage | 4 |
| Granzow et al. 2014 | 2 | 59 [55–63] | ND | Secondary | UL | NR | Dry | Groin VLNT with proximal inset | First stage: SAL; second stage (11–22 mo later): VLNT | 1ω |
| Nicoli et al. 2015 | 10 | 54.6 [35–67] | IIα | Secondary | UL | 6 | Tumescent laser-assisted* | 6 Groin and 4 supraclavicular VLNT with distal inset | First stage: VLNT; second stage (1–3 mo later): laser-assisted SAL | 5 |
| Cook et al. 2016 | 1 | 52 | IIIb–IVbβ | Secondary | UL | 12 | Dry | Supraclavicular VLNT with distal inset | First stage: SAL; second stage (2.5 mo later): VLNT | 4ω |
| Campisi et al. 2016 | 146 | NR [20–60] | IIb-IIIbδ | Primary: 69, secondary: 77 | UL: 63, LL: 83 | At least 12 | FLLA-LVSP, dry | LVA | First stage: LVA; second stage (5.5–11.6 mo later): FLLA-LVSP | 5 |
| Chang et al. 2017 | 49 | 52 [31-70] | ND | Secondary | LL | 12 | Tumescent | LVA | First stage: SAL; second stage: (time not specified) LVA | 4 |
| Agko et al. 2017 | 12 | 52 [27–72] | IIα | Secondary | UL: 6, LL: 6 | 23.5 [18–28] | Tumescent | Gastroepiploic VLNT with both proximal and distal insetµ | First stage: VLNT; second stage (6–8 mo later): SAL | 4 |
| Leppäpuska et al. 2019 | 21 | 56.7 [37–74] | IIα | Secondary | UL | 48.9 [26–71] | Dry: 18 Wet: 3 |
Groin VLNTΩ | Single-stage | 4 |
| Ciudad et al. 2019 | 24 | 54.5 [38–72] | IIb-IIIα | Secondary | UL: 12, LL: 12 | 14 [9–17] | Tumescent VASER-assisted | LVA | Single-stage | 4 |
*, high-power diodide pulsed laser with 1,470-nm wavelength, LASEmaR 1500-EUFOTON, Trieste, Italy; α, International Society of Lymphology Staging System; β, modified staging system by Karri et al.; δ, campisi staging system; µ, flap was divided extracorporeally into two units and placed proximally and distally; Ω, for 10 patients, this was combined with a lower abdominal flap (DIEP or ms-TRAM flap) for immediate breast reconstruction; ω, methodological quality assessment of case report/series proposed by Murad et al. NOS, Newcastle-Ottawa Scale; ND, not discussed; N/A, not applicable; UL, upper limbs, LL, lower limbs; LD, latissimus dorsi; LVA, lymphatico-venous anastomosis; VLNT, vascularized lymph node transfer; FLLA-LVSP, fibro-lipo-lypmh-aspiration with a lymph vessel sparing procedure; Suction-assisted lipectomy.