WHAT IS A LYMPHATIC EDEMA OR LYMPHOEDEMA?
This is an oedema that can happen because the maximum capacity response of the lymphatic system is overloaded by a super-production of liquids in the interstitial space or because of a deficiency in the lymphatic system, whether it be organic or functional alterations.
1- Organic Causes:
It is a given fact that oedemas originate from trauma from an obstruction in the lymphatic vessels from fibrin molecules: for example in cellulites, the net of fibrin strangulates lymphatic vessels. In some types of lymphoedema, the causes are congenital. In other cases the obstruction of the lymphatic vessels is accompanied by their actual destruction. For example, lymphoedemas that appear because of surgical oncological treatment and through radiotherapy. Or a posttraumatic ankle or knee oedema from an injury that destroys the lymphatic bodies localized in the same region. It is in this category that certain infections cause oedemas through tropical parasites like Filariasis (the larva of the filaria obstructs the lymphatic paths).
Oedemas from the alteration in formation of the collectors: for example the Meige disease that comes from family origin or others that appear belatedly, predominantly in young women after puberty.
2- Functional Causes:
Dysfunction through an overload: of which the most representative example is a chronic venous deficiency
Dysfunction because of a lymphatic deficiency: for example in an elderly person.