A hospital in northern Poland is preparing to perform an experimental operation on a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, using advanced microsurgery in an attempt to improve the brain’s natural waste-clearance processes.
The Regional Specialist Hospital in Słupsk expects to carry out its first procedure before the end of October, working with neurologists at the University Clinical Centre in Gdańsk.
The research project has received approval from a bioethics committee, according to the surgical team, and has been registered in an international clinical trials database.
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Surgeons hope that improving lymphatic drainage in the neck could help remove substances associated with Alzheimer’s disease, potentially slowing its progression.
However, the technique remains experimental. There is not yet convincing clinical evidence that the operation slows, stops or reverses Alzheimer’s disease, and researchers must establish both its safety and its effectiveness.
Polish surgeons prepare first operation
Dr Daniel Maliszewski, a surgeon at the Słupsk hospital, will lead the procedure, which is expected to take approximately three to four hours.
In an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP) published on 18 October, Maliszewski said the team hoped to complete its first operation within one or two weeks.
He described the bioethics approval as the first of its kind in Poland and an unusually comprehensive authorisation within the European Union.
That European-level claim reflects the surgeon’s assessment; it has not been independently verified against every comparable research authorisation across the continent.
The surgical team will include Dr Ewa Migacz, an ear, nose and throat specialist contributing expertise in head and neck anatomy and microsurgery.
Neurologists led by Dr Kamil Chwojnicki in Gdańsk are responsible for evaluating patients and determining their suitability for the experimental treatment.
The operation will involve a surgical microscope, advanced ultrasound imaging and potentially the hospital’s Symani microsurgical robot.
The hospital has previously used the robot for complex procedures involving extremely small blood and lymphatic vessels.
How could surgery help Alzheimer’s patients?
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurological condition associated with changes in memory, reasoning, behaviour and the ability to carry out everyday activities.
Researchers have identified abnormal accumulations of amyloid-beta and tau proteins among its important biological features.
The brain also has mechanisms for moving fluid and metabolic waste through interconnected clearance pathways, including meningeal lymphatic vessels and lymphatic structures in the neck.
The Słupsk research project aims to investigate whether surgically changing the drainage pathways in the neck could improve this process.
Under the proposed operation, surgeons create connections between small lymphatic vessels or lymph nodes and nearby veins.
The technique is known as lymphaticovenous anastomosis or, when a lymph node is connected directly to a vein, lymph node-to-vein anastomosis.
Its theoretical purpose is to create an alternative route for lymphatic drainage.
The surgical team hopes this could influence the clearance of substances associated with Alzheimer’s pathology.
However, the existence of these drainage pathways does not establish that changing them surgically will produce a meaningful improvement in memory or daily functioning.
Whether the proposed mechanism delivers clinical benefits is precisely what the researchers intend to examine.
Clinical trial plans to enrol 30 participants
An important development beyond the initial hospital announcement is the registration of the Polish study in the US National Library of Medicine’s ClinicalTrials.gov database.
The study, identified as NCT07857759 — Cervical Lymphatic Microsurgery in Alzheimer’s Disease, was first registered on 5 October 2026 and last updated on 8 October.
Its published design provides greater detail about how the experimental treatment will be assessed.
Researchers plan to enrol 30 participants with mild Alzheimer’s disease and divide them randomly into two groups.
One group will undergo the microsurgical procedure. The other will remain under clinical observation without the operation during the initial 12-month comparison period.
The study will assess blood biomarkers, memory and cognitive performance, activities of daily living, and any complications associated with surgery.
Its main measurement is the change in blood levels of phosphorylated tau 217, known as p-tau217, over 12 months.
Researchers will also use established clinical assessment tools to evaluate whether patients’ symptoms and everyday functioning change.
Participants will be assessed at the beginning of the study and after three, six and 12 months.
The registered study currently lists an estimated completion date of May 2029.
This is a small pilot trial. Even encouraging findings would require careful interpretation and potentially confirmation through larger studies.
More than 100 people expressed interest
The experimental procedure has attracted considerable interest from patients and families.
According to Maliszewski’s account to PAP, more than 100 people applied for consideration.
Approximately 40 were shortlisted for further assessment, while four had completed the final qualification process at the time of the interview.
Those figures should not be confused with the registered trial’s planned enrolment of 30 participants.
Researchers are focusing on people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
The registered eligibility criteria include confirmation of the disease through clinical assessment and blood biomarkers, alongside cognitive testing.
Patients must also have been receiving stable medication for Alzheimer’s disease for at least three months.
People with moderate or severe Alzheimer’s disease are excluded from the registered study, as are certain patients whose medical conditions or previous surgery could make the procedure unsuitable.
The focus on early-stage patients is intended to support a more reliable assessment of whether the intervention can influence the course of the disease.
The potential risks are being examined
Although the Słupsk team hopes the intervention will be relatively limited in its surgical scope, it still requires an operation under general anaesthesia.
Maliszewski acknowledged the importance of limiting operating time because patients with neurological conditions can face additional risks, including postoperative delirium.
The trial includes monitoring for surgical complications, serious adverse events, readmissions to hospital and deaths during follow-up.
The procedure’s long-term safety and effectiveness in Alzheimer’s patients have not been established.
The researchers also have to determine whether changes in biological markers, if detected, correspond to meaningful clinical improvements.
For patients and families, this is an essential distinction: a measurable change in a blood marker is not necessarily the same as an improvement in memory, independence or quality of life.
Similar surgery has faced scientific criticism
The Polish project is part of a wider international research effort examining whether surgical changes to lymphatic drainage could influence neurodegenerative diseases.
Comparable approaches have been investigated in Asia and the United States.
However, the evidence remains contested.
In July 2025, China’s National Health Commission issued a notice restricting the clinical use of deep cervical lymphatic-to-vein surgery for Alzheimer’s disease.
The Chinese authority said the procedure remained at an early research stage and lacked sufficient high-quality evidence supporting its safety and effectiveness.
The notice prohibited its use as an established clinical treatment while providing for appropriately designed and ethically reviewed research under specified conditions.
The Polish study concerns a closely related family of cervical lymphatic microsurgical techniques. China’s decision does not establish that the Polish research is unlawful or subject to the same regulatory restrictions.
Nevertheless, it highlights why rigorous testing is necessary.
A scientific review published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience also concluded that existing clinical evidence for deep cervical lymphatic-venous surgery was insufficient to justify widespread use for Alzheimer’s disease.
The authors raised concerns about small studies, limited follow-up and unresolved questions concerning the proposed biological mechanism.
Could surgery eventually complement medication?
The Słupsk researchers are not presenting the procedure as an established replacement for medication.
Maliszewski told PAP that several years of further work may be needed to determine which patients, if any, benefit most.
The research team is particularly interested in whether disease stage, sleep patterns and biological markers could help explain differences in outcomes.
Current Alzheimer’s care involves a combination of medical treatment, management of symptoms and support for patients and their families.
The experimental operation seeks to investigate a different biological mechanism rather than replace existing clinical care.
The Polish study could provide useful evidence about whether that approach deserves further development.
Its value will depend not simply on successfully performing an operation, but on demonstrating that patients experience measurable benefits that outweigh the risks.
What happens next?
The first procedure is expected in Słupsk before the end of October, although a completed operation had not been independently confirmed in the latest reporting reviewed.
The researchers will then need to monitor patients and compare their outcomes against the non-surgical group.
The registered trial’s 12-month assessments and longer research timetable mean that reliable conclusions cannot be drawn from the first operation alone.
For Poland, the project represents an attempt to apply advanced microsurgical expertise to one of medicine’s most difficult neurological conditions.
For people living with Alzheimer’s disease, it remains an experimental possibility rather than a proven new treatment.
Whether the approach can help patients will depend on the evidence produced in the years ahead.
