EM214: CATANIA - MANUAL LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE AND LYMPHOLOGICAL TAPE: Integrated evidence-based treatment of lymphoedema

Limb oedemas can be secondary to many internal, post-surgical or post-traumatic pathologies, which often coexist in the same patient, making differential diagnosis complex.

Among these conditions, lymphoedema is the most complex situation due to its chronic and evolving features, with consequent and frequent repercussions on the physical, but also on the psychological, family, affective, social, and working level, which are evident from the initial stages.

Complex Decongestive Therapy (CDT) is considered by the International Society of Lymphology as the intensive treatment of choice for lymphoedema. However, this treatment must be personalised according to the characteristics of each patient, after assessing the developmental stage of the pathology, the co-morbidities present, and the motivations and possibilities of the patient, in a bio-psycho-social approach.

An in-depth knowledge of the anatomical and physiological bases of the lymphatic system, of the physiopathology of oedema and the etiopathogenesis of lymphedema, of the clinical features of the different stages of the disease, of the most recent diagnostic methods, of the most appropriate manual and instrumental treatment techniques, of the most appropriate lymphatic microsurgery techniques available today, of the global strategy to be adopted, must be part of the cultural background of those who want to take care of patients with lymphedema.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The aim of this course is to provide the latest knowledge on the subject, on the basis of which the different therapeutic techniques used in the treatment of these pathologies can be acquired.

Manual lymph drainage and multi-component lymphological bandaging, as well as other techniques, are presented in their most up-to-date version, based on solid assumptions and scientific evidence rather than on outdated, often unsubstantiated historical aspects. Learning will be ensured by an extensive practical component of the course, in which participants will have the opportunity to practise under the guidance of the lecturer.

At the end of the course, participants will be able to define a personalised preventive-diagnostic-therapeutic programme appropriate for each patient.

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