Lower-extremity lymphedema following neck dissection--an uncommon complication after cervical ligation of the thoracic duct.

Thoracic duct injuries and chylous fistula are well-known complications of neck dissection, occurring in 1-2% of cases. Management of these injuries can be conservative or operative. Conservative treatment consists of fat restricted diet or total parenteral nutrition reducing the volume of chyle production. Operative management includes exploration of the neck or if necessary open thoracotomy to ligate the thoracic duct. Following cervical thoracic duct ligation only few complications like chylothorax or chylous ascites are described in the literature. To the best authors knowledge, this is the first report in the english literature describing lower-extremity lymphedema following cervical thoracic duct ligation.