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Review
. 2017 Apr 20;8(40):69062-69075.
doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.17297. eCollection 2017 Sep 15.

A review of the postoperative lymphatic leakage

Shulan Lv  1 , Qing Wang  1 , Wanqiu Zhao  2 , Lu Han  1 , Qi Wang  1 , Nasra Batchu  1 , Qurat Ulain  1 , Junkai Zou  1 , Chao Sun  1 , Jiang Du  1 , Qing Song  1   3   4 , Qiling Li  1   4
Affiliations
Review

A review of the postoperative lymphatic leakage

Shulan Lv et al. Oncotarget. .

Abstract

Lymphatic complications are rare, but well-known phenomena, and have been described by many researchers. However, many diagnoses of lymphatic complications are found confusing due to different definition. A literature search in Pubmed was performed for studies postoperative lympatic complications. These complications divided into two parts: lymphatic leakage and lymphatic stasis. This review is about lymphatic leakage, especially, postoperative lymphatic leakage due to the injury of lymphatic channels in surgical procedures. According to polytrophic consequences, many types of postoperative lymphatic leakage have been presented, including lymph ascites, lymphocele, lymphorrhea, lymphatic fistula, chylous ascites, chylothorax, chyloretroperitoneum and chylorrhea. In this review, we focus on the definition, incidence and treatment about most of these forms of lymphatic complications to depict a comprehensive view of postoperative lymphatic leakage. We hold the idea that the method of treatment should be individual and personal according to manifestation and tolerance of patient. Meanwhile, conservative treatment is suitable and should be considered first.

Keywords: chylothorax; chylous ascites; complication; lymphatic leakage; postoperation.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Lymphatic circulation
a at the level of the first or second lumbar vertebra; b traverse the aortic hiatus into the right posterior mediastinum; c. at the level of the 4th thoracic vertebra.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Classification of postoperative lymphatic leakage
Figure 3
Figure 3. Pictured here is the postoperative lymphatic leakage
(a and b) peritoneum anatomy (cross section and longitudinal section); c: thorax anatomy; d: sketch of cervical incision; L: liver; S: stomach; C: peritoneal cavity; R: retroperitoneal space; H: heart; Lu: lung; 1: the lymphatic ascites or chylous ascites; 2:lymphocele (it can also exist in peritoneal cavity or in other soft tissue not only retroperitoneal space); 3:the chylothorax; 4: the lymphorrhea or the chylorrhea; Lymphatic fistula and chyloretroperitoneum are not showed in this picture.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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