[Application progress of indocyanine green angiography in lymphedema].

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the application progress of indocyanine green (ICG) angiography in diagnosis and treatment of lymphedema. METHODS: The literature related to dynamic imaging tracing of lymphedema at home and abroad was reviewed extensively. And the research status and progress of ICG angiography in diagnosis and treatment of lymphedema were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: ICG angiography can be used as the gold standard for the diagnosis of lymphedema at present and the classification of lymphedema severity, selection of surgical incisions and methods, and intraoperative operation. It can also be used to observe lymphatic drainage and regeneration within 1.5 cm of subcutaneous and determine the prognosis. CONCLUSION: Compared with traditional methods, ICG angiography has more obvious advantages and value in diagnosis and treatment of lymphedema. However, it also has problems such as slow development speed and difficulty in developing deep lymphatic vessels (nodes).