Free vascularized lymph node transfer

Abstract

Vascularized free lymph node transfer is an emerging physiologic innovative modification of an old surgical treatment for lymphedema. Despite some encouraging results, no consensus has been established neither upon the mechanism of physiology nor the selection criteria of the ideal candidate. Different donor areas have been proposed with discordant reports about the best donor lymph node area and the recipient area, whether proximal or distal. In this chapter, we describe in detail the technique of harvest of different proposed donor lymph nodes.