The Charles procedure for primary lymphedema. Long-term clinical results.

The best treatment for primary lymphedema has been a controversial point, because of the lack of clinical documentation of really long-term successful results after any therapy. We report the long-term results in 10 patients (12 extremities) after the Charles procedure. These patients were evaluated at an average period of 10 1/2 years following the surgery (4 of these extremities were examined 20 or more years following the surgery). All of them demonstrated excellent functional results; none demonstrated a recurrence of the lymphedema. We consider the Charles procedure to be the operation of choice in patients with primary lymphedema which is not responsive to conservative therapy.