fig5

Figure 5. Continuous effect of the superior-edge-of-the-knee incision method. A 71-year-old woman had suffered bilateral lower extremity lymphedema (LEL) for 7.8 years following hysterectomy. This patient is the same patient as reported in Ref.^[21]. The LEL index at her right leg was 276.3 preoperatively. Lymphaticovenular anastomosis including the superior-edge-of-the-knee-incision method was performed on her right leg. Her lymphedema symptoms improved continuously and gradually with improvement of right LEL index, which was reduced to 257.1 at 14 months, 221.7 at 3 years, and 210.2 at 4 years. In addition, preoperative ICG lymphography severity of wide stardust areas was improved postoperatively at four years. The original source of this figure is from Ref.^[21] with permission for reuse.