LIPEDEMA

Course overview

AMERICAN PHYSICIAN ALLEN AND HINES DESCRIBED AN ABNORMAL DEPOSITION OF ADIPOSE TISSUE AFFECTING FEMALES IN THE 1940S IN A MAYO CLINIC TERMED LIPEDEMA. LIPEDEMA IS DEFINED AS THE DISPROPORTIONATE AND SYMMETRICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ADIPOSE TISSUE INVOLVING LOWER EXTREMITIES TO A GREATER DEGREE THAN THE TRUNK OR UPPER EXTREMITIES. HISTORY AND PHYSICAL EXAMINATION PROVIDE CLUES REGARDING THE LIPEDEMA, THAT EVALUATED MORE WITH NUCLEAR MEDICINE LYMPHANGIOSCINTIGRAPHY, ULTRASOUND, OR MRI OF LEGS. TO AVOID MORE COMPLICATIONS, IT SHOULD HAVE TO BE DIAGNOSED AND INTERVENE EARLY. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LIPEDEMA. TREATMENT STARTS WITH CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT LIKE DIET, EXERCISE, BUT THEN SURGICAL OPTIONS LIKE BARIATRIC SURGERY AND LIPOSUCTION SHOULD BE CONSIDERED.