Effect of pneumatic compression device and stocking use on symptoms and quality of life in women with lipedema: A proof-in-principle randomized trial

Abstract

Objective Does short-term use of pneumatic compression devices (PCD) and off-the-shelf compression alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life in women with lipedema and secondary lipolymphedema? Methods Prospective, randomized controlled, industry-sponsored, proof-in-principle study comparing PCD plus conservative care (PCD+CC) to CC alone (control). Adult females with bilateral lipedema and secondary lymphedema were randomized to PCD+CC or CC. Outcome measures were lower limb and truncal circumferential measurements, bioimpedance, and quality-of-life, symptom, and pain intensity questionnaires. Results Both groups experienced improvements in leg circumference and bioimpedance with more improvement in the PCD+CC group than the CC group. Pain scores of the SF-36 survey and numerical rating scales were improved in the PCD+CC group. Wong–Baker Faces scores showed trends toward improvement in both groups. Conclusions This proof-in-principle study supports conservative management with graduated compression and with or without PCD for improvement in leg circumference, bioimpedance measurements, and pain in patients with lipedema.

Behandlungsansätze mit Kompressionstherapie beim Lipödem

“…This step excluded 73 articles since they were found to consist of reviews, comments, guidelines, case studies, surveys and retrospective studies, or compression therapy studies following liposuction. A full text screen of 30 articles was performed and 3 of these articles were ultimately included in the meta-analysis [5,10,11]. The reasons for excluding the other 27 articles are set out in Illustration 1.…”

“…The 3 included studies investigated a total of 95 patients. The age of the patients varied between 42.1 (SD 9.6) and 60.1 (SD 5.5) years, and the duration of the interventions ranged from 5 days to 12 weeks (▶ Table 1) [5,10,11]. In the Wright et al…”

“…(2023) study, patients were treated with either a combination of IPC (60 min daily) and compression stockings (20-30 mmHg or 30-40 mmHg) or compression stockings alone (20-30 mmHg or 30-40 mmHg) [10]. Atan & Bahar-Özdemir (2021) investigated three groups, with one group treated with IPC (5 times per week for 30 min with 50 mm Hg) plus exercises, a second group treated with compression bandages, manual lymph drainage, skin care and exercises, and the third group exclusively treated with exercises [5].…”

“…For all studies, the risk of other sources of bias was rated as high, firstly, because the definition of lipedema was not always clear, and secondly, because patients may also have had other diseases, in addition to lipedema, that responded to compression therapy, which may have distorted the results of the meta-analysis. The fact that one of the studies was sponsored by industry introduces an additional bias [10] (▶ Fig. 2).…”

Lipedema Reduction Surgery Improves Pain, Mobility, Physical Function, and Quality of Life: Case Series Report

“…LRS with conservative measures improved mobility, whereas conservative measures alone did not. 26 Limitations of the study are as follows:…”