Lymphedema history and symptoms

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Editors-in-Chief: Benoit Blondeau, M.D. [1]; C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [2]

Symptoms

Symptoms may include severe fatigue, a heavy swollen limb or localized fluid accumulation in other body areas, including the head or neck, discoloration of the skin overlying the lymphedema, and eventually deformity (elephantiasis).

Lymphedema should not be confused with edema arising from venous insufficiency, which is not lymphedema. However, untreated venous insufficiency can progress into a combined venous/lymphatic disorder which is treated the same way as lymphedema (see Treatment below).