Table 3.

Available Treatments for Patients with Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema.

Treatment	Indication	Advantages	Disadvantages
Complex Decongestive Therapy	CLG 0-I	Reduction lymphedema volume, pain and arm heaviness Improvement lymphatic function Acceptable quality of life Reduction episodes of cellulitis	It is a purely symptomatic treatment Needs patient compliance Life-long compression garments.
Lymphovenous anastomosis	CLG I- early II	Safe Reduces of Circumference Reduces callulitis	Technically difficult Needs supermicrosurgery instruments Needs high resolution microscope Needs ICG lymphography Difficult to monitor the anastomoses patency
Vascularized Lymph Node Transfer	CLG late II-III-IV	Improvements in circumferential measurements, episodes of cellulitis, and quality of life	Requires intraoperative techniques of greater complexity Higher risk for postoperative re-exploration and the flap inset Risk of donor-site lymphedema
Liposuction	CLG III-IV	Decrease limb size Reduces episodes of cellulitis Improve quality of life	Risks of swelling recurrence Life-long compression garments

CLG: Cheng’s Lymphedema Grading.