Ga. Dumanian et Jw. Futrell, THE CHARLES PROCEDURE - MISQUOTED AND MISUNDERSTOOD SINCE 1950, Plastic and reconstructive surgery, 98(7), 1996, pp. 1258-1263
The Charles procedure, named for Sir Richard Henry Havelock Charles, i
s an eponym for a surgical treatment of leg lymphedema. Sir Havelock l
ed a fascinating life, with his travels taking him to India, the Afgha
n territories, and the Court of King George V of England. At the turn
of this century, Sir Havelock published material describing a series o
f 140 consecutive patients treated successfully for scrotal lymphedema
. In a book chapter published a decade later, entitled ''Elephantiasis
Scroti,'' Sir Havelock briefly described the treatment of leg lymphed
ema but did not document a single successful case report. The name of
Sir Havelock Charles was absent from the literature until 1950, when S
ir Archibald McIndoe attributed the treatment of leg lymphedema with r
adical excision and skin grafting to Sir Havelock. References to Charl
es for the treatment of leg lymphedema have proliferated since that ti
me.