First operation in Israel of lymph node transplantation. In a complex operation, lymph nodes taken from the abdomen were transplanted into the leg of a 34-year-old woman suffering from a lack of lymphatic system in the leg. “I couldn’t wear a shoe on my foot – only very wide flip-flops, it was a very, very difficult time. I cut myself off from everyone and shut myself up at home. My whole life was destroyed.”
for the first time in Israel. In the surgical department of the Peda-Foria Medical Center, they performed the first lymph node transplant surgery in Israel. In a complex operation, under the leadership of Dr. Muad Faraj, director of the surgical department, and Dr. Assi Drobot, director of the surgical and lymphedema unit, lymph nodes taken from the abdomen were transplanted into the leg of a 34-year-old woman suffering from a lack of lymphatic system in the leg.
5 years ago Rania (pseudonym), a resident of the Golan Heights, went up the stairs of her house and felt that her right leg began to hurt and swell. “It suddenly erupted. For several years I suffered a lot from my leg, I had pain, a feeling of circumcision in my leg and swelling and edema from the foot to above the knee. I would cry at night, I stopped leaving the house, I stopped buying clothes, I didn’t want to be seen like this with such a swollen leg , I couldn’t wear a shoe on my foot – only very wide flip-flops, it was a very, very difficult time. I cut myself off from everyone and shut myself in the house. My whole life was destroyed.”
Dr. Assi Drobot, a lipedema specialist, in the surgical department at the Pada Furia Medical Center explains, “It is a chronic congenital disease that suddenly erupted, the edema in the leg was created as a result of a lack of a lymphatic system in the foot, which causes the accumulation of fluids and edema. The accepted solution is an operation during which the blocked pipe is drained. But Rania underwent three such surgeries and the edema returned again and again.”
Dr. Muad Faraj, director of the surgical department, adds, “The operations that Rania underwent improved the situation, but the swelling in her leg still remains. That’s why we decided to perform, for the first time in Israel, an operation in which a lymph node is taken from another place in the body and transplanted into the ankle. This innovative surgery is only performed in a few places in the world.”
In a complex operation that lasted about 8 hours, a lymphatic system transplant was performed with great success, “You have to understand the complexity of this operation, two teams of surgeons worked at the same time, one team removed the fat tissue with the lymph nodes from the abdomen. At the same time, a second team prepared the blood vessels in the palm area The leg and then they connected the blood vessels and implanted the fat tissue.” Dr. Faraj described the complex operation and noted that the medical center had purchased an innovative system for mapping the lymphatic channels, through which the doctors could plan the operation in an optimal way.
Dr. Drobot emphasizes that this is great news for lymphedema patients in Israel, “It is a disease that is chronic for life. Until now, patients simply had to live with the disease, but over the years the situation is getting worse. This innovative surgery makes it possible to actually treat the problem. Two weeks after the operation there was a rapid improvement in the condition of the operated limb and a decrease of 4 centimeters in circumference was measured. We believe that within a year Rania will be able to completely remove the elastic stocking that most patients use to reduce the edema.”
After a five-day hospitalization, Rania was released to her home. At a check-up a month after the surgery, she told us with a broad smile, “I feel much better, I feel a very big change, beyond the aesthetic appearance of the leg, I am less tired, can walk better. I thank God that we found Dr. Drobot and believe that now I will return For my life”.
Dr. Drobot concluded, “Today it is clear to see that the transplanted glands have been absorbed, the irrigations are active and as a result there is no accumulation of fluid that leads to the formation of the edema. For us and for Rania and her family, this is a great success.”