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Lymphocele
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A lymphocele is a collection of lymph, the fluid that circulates through the lymphatic system, the body's drainage network. It forms after surgery: opening and separating tissue cuts lymphatic vessels, and fluid keeps leaking out of those cut ends and pools in a space.
The word cyst does not quite fit. A true cyst is lined on the inside with a layer of its own cells. A lymphocele has no such lining, which is why it is called a pseudocyst, that is, a false cyst. It is a plumbing leak that collects in a sac with no wall of its own.
That fluid is not water: lymph carries lymphocytes, which are immune cells, and protein. After a kidney transplant it pools in the retroperitoneum, the space behind the abdomen, next to the transplanted kidney.
The trouble starts when it grows and presses on what sits next to it: the ureter, the tube that carries urine down, or the blood vessels. That is when pelvic pain, leg swelling, infection or poor function of the transplanted kidney show up. Out of every hundred kidney transplants, five to ten end up with a lymphocele that causes symptoms and calls for a procedure.
In brief
A lymphocele is a collection of lymph that leaks out when surgery cuts through lymphatic vessels.
It is not a true cyst but a pseudocyst, a collection with no epithelial lining of its own.
A leak that pools in a sac with no wall of its own.
Lymph is rich in lymphocytes and protein; after kidney transplant it pools in the retroperitoneum.
By compressing the ureter or vessels, lymphoceles can cause pelvic pain, leg swelling, infection or graft dysfunction; symptomatic ones require intervention in 5% to 10% of transplants.
Sources (1)
- World Journal of Transplantation, PubMed CentralLymphocele after renal transplant: Prevention and managementPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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