Register an interest in this interventional procedure

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued full guidance to the NHS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on Liposuction for chronic lymphoedema in February 2008. NICE is currently updating this guidance. The new guidance will be published shortly. Until then the NHS should continue to follow the recommendations outlined in the current version of the guidance. The Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee (IPAC) will consider this procedure review and NICE will issue an interventional procedures consultation document about its safety and efficacy for 4 weeks’ public consultation. IPAC will then review the consultation document in the light of comments received and produce a final interventional procedures document, which will be considered by NICE before guidance is issued to the NHS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
 
Status In progress
Process IP
Description Liposuction for chronic lymphoedema is usually done under general anaesthesia, but regional nerve blockade is also possible. A few small incisions are made in the limb. Cannulas, connected to a vacuum pump, are inserted into the incisions and oedematous adipose tissue is removed by vacuum aspiration. Liposuction is done around and all the way along the limb. Immediately after liposuction, a compression bandage is applied to the limb to control any bleeding and to prevent postoperative oedema. Antibiotics are typically prescribed after the operation. The limb is elevated during hospital stay for 3 to 7 days after the procedure. From about 2 weeks after the procedure, a custom-made compression garment is worn. After about 3 months, a new compression garment is custom made. This garment is revised 3 or 4 times during the first year until the oedema volume has been reduced as much as possible and a steady state has been reached

Timeline

Key events during the development of the guidance:

Date Update
12 April 2017 - 10 May 2017 Interventional procedure consultation

For further information on how we develop guidance, please see our page about NICE interventional procedures guidance