[Mercury pressotherapy in the treatment of lymphedema].

Increasingly growing pressure gradients impressed upon a limb maintained vertically positioned in mercury (metal) have been used as an individually-adjusted compressive, evacuating and atraumatic mould in lymphatic or venolymphatic disease of the limbs. We studied this new so-called mercury pressure-therapy applied to 100 cases of lymphedema of the upper extremity, 100 cases of lymphedema of the lower extremity, 150 cases of inflammatory hypodermitis of the leg and 50 refractory venous ulcers. During the first trials, the patients were treated with a prototype, then with a model of the latest version of the Gradient-1000 device (fig. 1), allowing for mercury displacement along the limb controllable by 6 parameters. During experimentation, we used the following methodology: 1) Each patient's treatment consisted in 3 to 4 compression sessions at 3 to 8 day intervals. Later, the patient was followed up for 3 to 6 months and received 1 to 2 additional pressure treatments, as deemed necessary. 2) Each session comprised 30 minutes of actual compression by several rising mercury waves falling back to the zero level each time, using the following criteria: slow velocities (1 to 2 cm/second), progressively higher rising levels (45 to 70, even 80 cm), each level upheld for 3 to 5 minutes, few repeated up and down phases (6 to 10, depending upon the duration of each phase). 3) In between the compression sessions, the patient wore a compressive elastic bandage permanently. 4) The first 3 to 4 compression sessions constituted the initial treatment; the patient was then fit with a removable elastic bandage to be worn 12/24 hours.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)