A surgical procedure, which has been used in a small series of cases, has eliminated recurrent cellulitis and lymphangiitis by excision of the diseased tissue that results from lymph stasis; the postoperative decrease in the size of the extremity has been maintained.
The results in these cases would support the belief that recurrent cellulitis and lymphangiitis, associated with lymphoedema, are produced by a recurrent pyogenic infection.
It is felt that recurrent cellulitis associated with chronic lymphoedema is confined to the tissue below the knee, and is best treated by excision of the disease-bearing area and by skin-grafting.