Written question asked by Peter Gibson (Conservative) on Friday, 12 April 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 16 April 2024. It was answered by Andrew Stephenson (Conservative) on Thursday, 18 April 2024 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Lymphedema: Medical Treatments

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing lymphaticovenous anastomosis surgery on the NHS.

Answer: No formal assessment has been made of the potential merits of providing lymphaticovenous anastomosis surgery on the National Health Service. On 16 April 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published interventional procedures guidance that states that lymphovenous anastomosis during axillary dissection for preventing secondary lymphoedema in adults with breast cancer, can be used in the NHS while more evidence is generated, and that it can only be used with special arrangements for clinical governance, consent and audit, or research. The NICE’s interventional procedures guidance makes recommendations for the NHS on whether procedures are sufficiently safe and efficacious for use in routine clinical practice.

Secondary information