Liposuction for Lymphedema

Question

What is the clinical effectiveness of liposuction compared with no treatment for the treatment of lymphedema?
What is the clinical effectiveness of liposuction compared with alternative treatments for the treatment of lymphedema?
What are the evidence-based guidelines regarding the use of liposuction for the treatment of lymphedema?

Liposuction with controlled compressive therapy was associated with higher volume reduction compared with controlled compression therapy alone. This finding was from a low- to moderate-quality meta-analysis of 2 prospective cohort studies. The certainty of the evidence is very low.
Liposuction was associated with higher improvement in health-related quality of life compared with no treatment. However, the associated data were not reported to enable an independent corroboration of this finding, and the evidence was uncertain.
Overall, the evidence regarding the clinical effectiveness of liposuction compared with no treatment was very uncertain because it came from a small number of studies with methodological limitations and poor reporting.
Two guidelines recommended the use of liposuction for the treatment of lymphedema.