Dercum's disease is characterised by
obesity, pronounced
pain in the adipose tissue, and a number of associated symptoms.
Liposuction has been suggested as a treatment. However, the effect on quality-of-life after
liposuction in
Dercum's disease has never been investigated. The objective of this study was to examine the quality-of-life in
Dercum's disease before and after
liposuction. A total of 114 women fulfilling the clinical criteria of
Dercum's disease were included. Of the 114 women, 53 were operated on with
liposuction and 61 were Dercum controls. In addition, 41 obese healthy women operated on with
abdominoplasty were recruited as controls. Health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) was measured with the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and the Psychological General Well-Being index (PGWB). The Dercum group had lower HRQoL than the
abdominoplasty controls. After
liposuction, a slight improvement could be seen in HRQoL in the operated patients compared with preoperatively, but it did not become as high as in the
abdominoplasty patients. In conclusion, the findings could suggest that
liposuction improves the quality-of-life slightly in
Dercum's disease. Nonetheless, the causality is unclear and the improvement is not big enough to warrant operation.