Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To review the current progress of clinical and experimental research of vascularized lymph node transfer for lymphedema. METHODS: The domestic and abroad literature about vascularized lymph node transfer in treatment of lymphedema was reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: Experimental studies in animal model indicate that vascularized lymph node transfer can improve lymph node survival and show a promising effectiveness in reducing lymphedema. "Lymphatic wick" and "lymph pump" were the two main hypotheses proposed to explain the potential functional mechanism of vascularized lymph node transfer in treatment of lymphedema. Improvement in lymphedema symptoms are reported in most of the clinical trials, but the level of evidence to advocate this procedure in the treatment of lymphedema remains low because of the small number of the cases and problems in their methodologies. CONCLUSION: Based on current evidence, vascularized lymph node transfer seems to be a promising treatment for lymphedema, but long-term well-designed studies are required to further explore the effectiveness of this procedure.