OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) in improving health-related quality of life (HRQL), symptomatology and physical status in patients with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). DESIGN: Single-blind randomized controlled study. SETTING: Outpatients in a school-based health community attendant service. PARTICIPANTS: Forty one subjects with CVI were randomly assigned to an experimental (EXP, n = 20, mean (SD) age 54.6 (11.3) years) and control group (CON, n = 21, mean (SD) age 46.8 (11.1) years). INTERVENTIONS: The EXP group completed 10 lower extremity MLD sessions over 4 weeks and one educational session. The CON group only attended the educational session. Outcome measures were taken at baseline (T0), at the end of 4 weeks (T1), and after 2 months for follow-up (T2). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): HRQL was assessed with the Chronic Venous Insufficiency Questionnaire (CIVIQ-20), symptoms (fatigue and heaviness) with visual analogue scales, severity of disease with Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS) (total and for each item), leg volumetry with perimeters, and plantar/dorsiflexion strength and ankle range of motion (ROM) with dynamometry. RESULTS: A significant interaction group x time effect was found for pain-HRQL (F[2,78] = 3.507; p = 0.035; eta2rho = 0.087), clinical severity (F[2,78] = 5.231, p = 0.007, eta2rho = 0.118), especially for venous edema (assessed with VCSS), fatigue (F[1.67, 65.21] = 4.690, p = 0.012, eta2rho = 0.107), and heaviness (F[1.57,61.32] = 9.702, p = 0.001, eta2rho = 0.199), with EXP group improving from T0 to T1 and to T2 in all of these outcomes. No effect of MLD treatment could be found for ankle muscle strength, ankle ROM, and leg volume. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term MLD treatment ameliorates CVI severity and related edema, symptoms, and pain-HRQL in patients with CVI.

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