Development of a Clinical Screening, Diagnostic and Evaluation Tool for Patients With Lower Limb Lymphedema: Development of an Evaluation Set for Patients With LLL

Status: Recruiting
Location: See all (2) locations...
Intervention Type: Diagnostic test
Study Type: Observational
SUMMARY

Research investigating measurement properties for evaluating the decongestive treatment effect on different edema characteristics (e.g. water volume, hardness of the skin, water content,..) at the level of the lower limbs is missing. Information about the clinical relevant change criteria after treatment for nearly all these edema characteristics, is not present and requires investigation. To assess the merits of each treatment in a reproducible manner, a reliable way of measuring limb volume and other edema characteristics must be established, as the evaluation of treatment effects without appropriate tools might lead to biased treatment effects. First of all, in clinical practice, it is of utmost importance to know which edema characteristics need to be evaluated in order to assess the clinical evolution of a patient with lymphedema during and after treatment. Secondly, in order to draw proper conclusions about the treatment effect, it is necessary that to know from which criterion (or cut-off value) one can speak of a real clinical change for a certain lymphedema characteristic. Given that the edema characteristics that are most responsive to treatment and their corresponding criteria for clinically significant and relevant changes at the lower limbs have never been investigated before, the need for this research is high. Therefore, the research questions in this study are: Which measurement tool(s) are able to detect clinically relevant changes in the lymphedema characteristics after the intensive treatment and during the maintenance treatment? When can a clinician speak of a clinically relevant change?

Eligibility
Participation Requirements
Sex: All
Minimum Age: 18
Healthy Volunteers: f
View:

• Intensive treatment group

‣ Unilateral or bilateral, primary or secondary LLL

⁃ No active metastases

⁃ If cancer-related lymphedema, time interval since surgery/ radiotherapy/ chemotherapy is ≥3 months

⁃ Objective diagnosis of lymphedema: ≥ 5% volume difference OR ≥ 2 minor/ 1 major criteria on lymphoscintigraphy OR presence of ICG dermal backflow

⁃ Age ≥ 18 years

⁃ Able to read, understand and speak Dutch

⁃ Planned to start with intensive decongestive lymphatic therapy at one or both legs

• Maintenance treatment group

‣ See inclusion criteria 'intensive treatment group'

⁃ But: instead of patients planned to start with intensive lymphatic therapy, patients of this group should have ended their intensive treatment phase at least 3 months ago (= currently receiving maintenance decongestive lymphatic therapy)

Locations
Other Locations
Belgium
University Hospitals of Leuven
RECRUITING
Leuven
Netherlands
Nij Smellinghe Hospital
NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Drachten
Contact Information
Primary
Tessa De Vrieze, Dr.
tessa.devrieze@kuleuven.be
003216345006
Backup
Nele Devoogdt, Prof. Dr.
nele.devoogdt@kuleuven.be
0032 16 342515
Time Frame
Start Date: 2024-04-01
Estimated Completion Date: 2025-12-01
Participants
Target number of participants: 120
Treatments
Intensive group
Patients with lower limb lymphoedema planned for intensive treatment
Maintenance group
Patients with stable lower limb lymphoedema who are in the maintenance phase (at least 3 months)
Related Therapeutic Areas
Sponsors
Leads: KU Leuven
Collaborators: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven, Nij Smellinghe Hospital Drachten

This content was sourced from clinicaltrials.gov