PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Jin Hwi Kim AU - Ji Hyang Choi AU - Eun Young Ki AU - Sung Jong Lee AU - Joo Hee Yoon AU - Keun Ho Lee AU - Tae Chul Park AU - Jong Sup Park AU - Seog Nyeon Bae AU - Soo Young Hur TI - Incidence and Risk Factors of Lower-Extremity Lymphedema After Radical Surgery With or Without Adjuvant Radiotherapy in Patients With FIGO Stage I to Stage IIA Cervical Cancer AID - 10.1097/IGC.0b013e3182466950 DP - 2012 May 01 TA - International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer PG - 686--691 VI - 22 IP - 4 4099 - http://ijgc.bmj.com/content/22/4/686.short 4100 - http://ijgc.bmj.com/content/22/4/686.full SO - Int J Gynecol Cancer2012 May 01; 22 AB - Objective This study aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors of lower-extremity lymphedema (LEL) in women who had radical surgery with or without adjuvant radiotherapy for International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage I to stage IIA cervical cancer.Methods The medical records were reviewed retrospectively on patients with histologically confirmed FIGO stage I to IIA cervical cancer. Lower-extremity lymphedema–related medical problems such as peripheral vascular disease, congestive heart failure, or chronic renal disease were excluded. A logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between variable clinical characteristics and development of LEL.Results We evaluated 707 patients. Of the 707 patients evaluated, we excluded 92 patients who had received radiotherapy as the initial therapy and 19 patients with LEL related to medical problems. Seventy-five patients (12.6%) developed LEL. The incidence was high in patients with adjuvant radiotherapy (odds ratio, 3.47; 95% confidence interval, 2.086–5.788; P = 0.000), with 78.7% of the patients with LEL having developed the condition within 3 years after initial treatment.Conclusions Adjuvant radiotherapy was significantly associated with development of LEL in women who had undergone radical surgery with lymphadenectomy for FIGO stage I to stage IIA cervical cancer. The possibility for the occurrence of LEL must be fully explained before treatment and patients should be provided with the appropriate preventive education. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm the incidence and risk factors for LEL.