{"id":4104,"date":"2022-05-03T11:47:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T10:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/lymphoedemachronicoedema\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T16:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T15:03:08","slug":"lymphoedemachronicoedema","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/rehabilitation\/lymphoedemachronicoedema\/","title":{"rendered":"Lymphoedema\/Chronic Oedema"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Information<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u00b7&nbsp; Primary lymphoedema:-<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arises from an intrinsic defect in lymph pathways.&nbsp; Can present at birth, in early childhood or in adult life.&nbsp; May be inherited.&nbsp; The term is often used when there is no identifiable external cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u00b7&nbsp; Secondary lymphoedema:-<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Results from damage to the lymphatic system.&nbsp; This may be cancer-related (surgery\/radiotherapy, or metastatic or advanced disease), or due to non cancer-related causes, such as trauma or infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u00b7&nbsp; Chronic Oedema:-<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A term applied to chronic swelling where the lymphatics are not damaged but have become overloaded due to a prolonged increase in interstitial fluid volume, for example, dependency\/immobility swelling, venous disease, morbid obesity, and medication<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Services<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two specialist lymphoedema services operating across NHS Lothian:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>1. <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/nhs-lothian-primary-care-lymphoedema-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NHS Lothian Primary Care Lymphoedema Service<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>2.<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/edinburgh-cancer-centre-lymphoedema-service\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"24532\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Edinburgh Cancer Centre Lymphoedema Service<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em> <\/em>M.A. &amp; C.E\/B.B. 07-07-25<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs\" data-active-tab=\"0\"><ul class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-links\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Referral Guidelines<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p>See individual services<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Primary Care Management<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p>Do&#8217;s and Don&#8217;ts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Explain a self-management programme will be offered which may include:-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Skin Care advice and prevention of infection<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SELF-massage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Active exercises<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Compression<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Healthy weight management advice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Don&#8217;t<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>State the patient will receive manual lymphatic drainage or mechanical compression pump system<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__nav-link\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title-wrapper\"><a href=\"#\"><span class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__title\">Resources and Links<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-getwid-tabs__tab-content\">\n<p>&nbsp;British Lymphology Society:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thebls.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>www.thebls.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BMJ module&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/elearning.rcgp.org.uk\/lymphoedema\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>http:\/\/elearning.rcgp.org.uk\/lymphoedema<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lymphoedema Support Network:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lymphoedema.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>www.lymphoedema.org<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scottish Lymphoedema Website:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lymphoedema-scotland.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>www.lymphoedema-scotland.org<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NHS Inform: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhsinform.scot\/illnesses-and-conditions\/blood-and-lymph\/lymphoedema\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lymphoedema | NHS inform<\/a> &nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Information &middot;&nbsp; Primary lymphoedema:- Arises from an intrinsic defect in lymph pathways.&nbsp; Can present at birth, in early childhood or in adult life.&nbsp; May be inherited.&nbsp; The term is often used when there is no identifiable external cause. &middot;&nbsp; Secondary lymphoedema:- Results from damage to the lymphatic system.&nbsp; This may be cancer-related (surgery\/radiotherapy, or metastatic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":4364,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"class_list":["post-4104","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-lymphoedema-chronic-oedema"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"NHS Lothian","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/nhs-lothian\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/lymphoedema-chronic-oedema\/\" rel=\"tag\">Lymphoedema\/Chronic Oedema<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Information &middot;&nbsp; Primary lymphoedema:- Arises from an intrinsic defect in lymph pathways.&nbsp; Can present at birth, in early childhood or in adult life.&nbsp; May be inherited.&nbsp; The term is often used when there is no identifiable external cause. &middot;&nbsp; Secondary lymphoedema:- Results from damage to the lymphatic system.&nbsp; This may be cancer-related (surgery\/radiotherapy, or metastatic","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4104"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24541,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4104\/revisions\/24541"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}