LYMPHA-PRESS. A NEW PNEUMATIC DEVICE FOR THE TREATMENT OF LYMPHEDEMA OF THE LIMBS

Abstract

As no adequate surgical nor conservative therapy
exists for the treatment of lymphedema, therapists
should aim at efforts to improve quality of life for
those patients. Most surgeons agree that surgical
treatment of such cases leaves much to be desired
(4).
The use of microsurgery lymph-vein anastomosis may
be the current best solution to this problem, but to
date not enough experience has been accumulated
(5). Of all the conservative treatments known, intermittent
compression is the only one which so far
has shown any effectiveness.
The "Lympha-Press", a pneumatic compression instrument,
based on physiological principles, has
been developed in our department and is currently
being manufactured. It has proven to be very effective
for the efficient reduction of lymphedema.
It is designed so that the fluid is pushed from the
limb in a proximal direction only. The short cycle
of the pressure allows the therapist to use high
pressures in order to overcome long standing
lymphedema without discomfort to the patient.
The use of the "Lympha-Press" together with the
correct elastic stocking promises restoration of a
good quality of life for the patients.
In this series of 20 patients we had remarkable
results in a very short time and succeeded in maintaining
this success with the exception of a few
patients who needed a few additional sessions, of
one hour each.
The "Lympha-Press" is a new intermittent pneumatic
machine which according to our experience,
has been more effective than the conventional
machines, and the results presented in this paper
would seem to justify its wide use in the treatment
of lymphedema of the limbs.