The Lymphoedema Service at Leeds Teaching Hospitals is led by Clinical Nurse Specialists and provides a specialist outpatient service to assess and treat adults and children with primary and secondary lymphoedema.
Clinics are provided at:
- St James’s Hospital, Bexley Wing, Outpatients, 1st Floor, Monday to Friday
- Wharfedale Hospital, Lower Ground Floor, Monday to Friday
All patients are assessed, a treatment plan agreed and compression garments provided. A summary of the assessment and planned lymphoedema treatment will be sent to the referring doctor, the patient and to the patient’s GP. Patients will be referred back to the referring doctor if there is a perceived need for a further medical opinion in relation to the patient’s medical condition. This may take place at any time during treatment.
Lymphoedema and its treatment
Lymphoedema is a chronic swelling caused by a failure in lymph drainage. This may occur due to an intrinsic insufficiency of the lymphatics (primary lymphoedema) or secondary to another cause such as cancer or its treatment, limb dependency or chronic venous insufficiency (secondary lymphoedema).
The service aims to enable the person with lymphoedema to become independent in the self-management of their condition. A combination of physical therapies is used to minimise and control the swelling. This may involve compression garments, self-massage, skin care to reduce the risk of infection and exercise. Patients are advised to maintain a healthy weight as weight gain will have a negative impact on the degree of swelling present and the individual’s ability to control the degree of swelling present. Education and the provision of information play a key part in the treatment process. Once a patient’s swelling is stable; they will be referred back to their GP who will continue to supply them with their compression garments.
In cases of severe swelling and midline oedema, patients are treated with a course of intensive treatment including daily bandaging and massage (manual lymphatic drainage). Pneumatic compression pumps are also used during intensive treatment.
