LIPEDEMA

Course overview

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