A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the efficacy of oral penicillin, diethylcarbamazine or local treatment of the affected limb in preventing acute adenolymphangitis in lymphoedema caused by brugian filariasis.

Acute attacks of adenolymphangitis (ADL) contribute significantly to the morbidity seen in cases of filarial lymphoedema. Such cases are now being treated with multiple courses of the antifilarial drug diethylcarbamazine (DEC), either alone or in combination with antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs, based on anecdotal experience. In this, the first double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 150 patients with lymphoedema caused by brugian filariasis, each of whom recalled two or more ADL attacks in the previous year, were enrolled on a comprehensive foot-care programme.