CONTINUAL GLYCEROL INJECTION THERAPY FOR EDEMA IN AN EXTREMITY

• Published in: Nihon Rinsho Geka Gakkai Zasshi (Journal of Japan Surgical Association) Vol. 62; no. 12; pp. 3073 - 3076
• Main Authors: MIYATA, Keigo, LEE, Chol Joo, FUJII, Kohji, TAKENAKA, Atsushi, TAKEUCHI, Yoshito, TAKAHASHI, Shigeru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Surgical Association 2001
• ISSN: 1345-2843; 1882-5133
• DOI: 10.3919/jjsa.62.3073

We present here an interesting case involving a treatment for edema in the left upper extremity of a 68-year-old woman. The patient complained of edema, stiffness, and pain in her left arm, and her left extremity was remarkably swollen. A radioimmunoveinal angiogram revealed the occlusion of the left subclavian vein. A computed tomogram showed the oppression of the left subclavian vein by metastatic right ovarian cancer. A catheter was inserted in a root of the left thoracoacrominal artery; the port was subcutaneously inserted in the left anterior chest wall. Glyceol (200ml; including glycerol 20g and fructose 10g) was injected 55 times. An area of swelling in her forearm 9-cm in circumference, decreased, and the patient recoved from her complaint. The management of edema in extremies is usually quite difficult. Continual glycerol infusion via an undermined port and catheter is less invasive and a useful method of improving the patient's quality of life.