Successful treatment of intractable chylous ascites after laparoscopic low anterior resection using lymphangiography and embolization with lipiodol: A case report

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Chylous ascites (CA) is an infrequent, intractable complication that may arise after abdominal surgery. Although various attempts at treatment have been adopted, to date, none of them have been consistently effective. We describe the successful treatment of CA using lymphangiography and embolization with lipiodol. CASE PRESENTATION: A 79-year-old woman underwent laparoscopic surgery for rectum cancer at another hospital. She was discharged on postoperative day (POD) 9; however, she had to be treated and hospitalized for CA three times until POD 76. She visited our hospital to undergo treatment for CA on POD 90 because the previous conservative treatment had not improved her condition. The computed tomography (CT) scans revealed ascites effusion. We performed lymphangiography and embolization with lipiodol two times. Repeated CT on POD 134 showed that the ascites had not increased. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Lymphangiography and embolization with lipiodol effectively resolved chylous leakage that occurred after abdominal surgery. Additionally, we compare the features of two groups of cases of CA: one group in which patients were treated by lymphatic intervention and the second in which patients were treated through surgical procedures. CONCLUSION: We were thus able to demonstrate the clinical effectiveness of lipiodol lymphangiography in treating CA.