Lymphoedema Surgery in Ahmedabad by Dr. Aniket Dave

Lymphoedema is the chronic, progressive swelling that occurs when the lymphatic system can no longer drain fluid from a limb. Once it sets in, it tends to worsen: soft, pitting swelling slowly becomes firm and fibrotic, the skin thickens, and the limb becomes prone to repeated attacks of cellulitis. In Ahmedabad and across Gujarat, two causes dominate. The first is treatment for cancer — most often arm swelling after breast-cancer surgery and axillary node clearance, or leg swelling after pelvic surgery and radiotherapy. The second is filariasis, a mosquito-borne infection still seen in parts of India, which damages the lymphatics over years. Surgery for lymphoedema is not a cure — there is no operation that restores a lymphatic system to normal. What modern surgery can do is reduce the volume of the limb, slow or halt progression, and dramatically cut the frequency of infections, so the limb becomes lighter, more comfortable and easier to manage. Dr. Aniket Dave offers the full range: super-microsurgical lymphaticovenular anastomosis (LVA) for earlier disease, vascularised lymph node transfer (VLNT) for more established cases, and debulking by liposuction or excision where the limb has become fibrotic and fatty. Surgery always sits alongside, not instead of, conservative therapy — compression and manual lymphatic drainage remain lifelong companions to any operation.