Deep cervical lymphovenous anastomosis (LVA) has been proposed as a novel surgical approach for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, its therapeutic efficacy remains uncertain and controversial. Family caregivers who observe patients most closely and continuously play a vital role in recognizing subtle symptom changes. Their perceptions may provide important clues to perioperative symptom and caregiving-burden changes that remain poorly understood. To explore family caregivers’ perceptions of patients’ symptom and caregiving burden changes before and after LVA in individuals with AD. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted with 20 family caregivers of 20 distinct patients who had undergone LVA at a tertiary hospital in Henan Province, China. Semi-structured telephone interviews were analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s framework with NVivo 15. Three themes emerged, namely a spectrum of perceived postoperative symptom change trajectories; shifts in caregiving burden without added postoperative strain; sustaining hope through continued effort. Caregivers reported modest postoperative changes mixed with persistent uncertainty. Future research may integrate quantitative assessments with caregiver reports to better characterize postoperative symptom changes in AD patients following LVA.
Chen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.