Prevention is better than cure.
The patient should be carefully educated at the time of the operation and made to realise that they have a limb or limbs 'at risk', which must be carefully looked after. In particular they would have wished to be informed of any preventative measures that could have been taken to avoid lack of full arm movement and, even more importantly, the onset of lymphoedema. Patients with lymphoedema should memorise all of the following points. The following instructions should be given to all patients. Keep the lymphoedematous limb or a limb 'at risk' spotlessly clean.