The effects of reduction operation with genital lymphedema on the frequency of erysipelas and the quality of life.

Genital lymphedema represents a severedisability for patients particularly whencomplicated by erysipelas, the most frequentcomplication. The objectives of this studywere: to investigate the frequency of erysipelasin patients with genital lymphedema andgenital lymphatic cysts who underwentevaluation for surgical treatment, to observethe influence of resection operations on thefrequency of erysipelas, and to measurechanges in the quality of life due to theresection. A total of 93 patients with genitallymphedema were studied. All patientsunderwent integrated care treatment in theFoldi Clinic, Hinterzarten and the Departmentof Plastic and Hand Surgery of theUniversity Hospital Freiburg during the periodbetween 1997 and 2007. 44 of these patientsunderwent surgical treatment of genitallymphedema. The results indicate thatlymphatic cysts were the most important riskaggravatingfactor for recurrent erysipelaswith lymphorrhea in the genital region(p<0.001). Following the resection operation,however, the number of erysipelas incidentssignificantly decreased (p<0.001). In addition,the antibiotic dose could be reduced aftersurgery (p=0.039) and an improved quality oflife was achieved (p<0.001).