Abstract

The lymphatic system is critical in body fluid homeostasis. Although lymphatic vascular expansion prevents the development of ascites and edema in the early stages of liver cirrhosis, compensatory mechanisms cannot achieve this in the advanced stages due to lymphatic dysfunction. A 36-year-old male patient, who had been followed up for cryptogenic cirrhosis for 15 years, had been complaining of excessive swelling in his legs for the last 4 years. Excessive swelling in the legs was accompanied by skin rashes and ulcers, and the leg skin had an orange peel appearance observed in lymphedema. Bilateral lower extremity artery and venous system color doppler ultrasonography showed that the vascular structures of the right lower extremity arterial and venous system were open and the flow rate, direction and spectrum are normal. The patient, who could not undergo liver transplantation due to organ limitations, died due to sepsis following lymphedema-induced wound infection. In conclusion, this case suggests that lymphedema should be considered in the presence of edema in cases of decompensated cirrhosis and the necessary conservative treatments should be applied.