In search of the ideal surgical treatment for Lymphedema. Report of 2nd European Conference on Supermicrosurgery

In search of the ideal surgical treatment for Lymphedema. Report of 2nd European Conference on Supermicrosurgery (Barcelona - March 2012).]

[Article in French]

Rausky J, Robert N, Binder JP, Revol M.

Source

Service de chirurgie plastique reconstructrice et esthétique, hôpital Saint-Louis, AP-HP, université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 75475 Paris cedex 10, France. Electronic address: rausky@hotmail.com.

Abstract

Since more than 50years, many surgeons all around the world try to find the perfect surgical technique to treat limb lymphedemas. Decongestive physiotherapy associated with the use of a compressive garment has been the primary choice for lymphedema treatment. Many different surgical techniques have been developed, however, to date, there is no consensus on surgical procedure. Most surgical experts of lymphedema met in the second European Conference on supermicrosurgery, organized on March 1st and 2nd 2012, in San Pau Hospital, Barcelona. Together they tried to clarify these different options and ideally a strategy for using these techniques.

Elsevier

Randomised controlled trial to determine the benefit of daily home-based exercise in addition to self-care in the management of breast cancer-related lymphoedema: a feasibility study.

October 2012

Jeffs E, Wiseman T.

Source

Lymphoedema Clinic, Guy's Hospital, Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, 3rd floor Tower Wing, Great Maze Pond, London, SE1 9RT, UK, eunice.jeffs@gstt.nhs.uk.

Abstract

Exercise is considered to be a key aspect of lymphoedema treatment, although there is little evidence for the therapeutic effect of exercise in managing breast cancer-related lymphoedema (BCRL). This small randomised controlled trial (RCT) was designed to determine the feasibility, prior to undertaking a larger RCT, of researching a daily home-based exercise programme to treat stable BCRL. An experimental design compared the exercise intervention combined with standard lymphoedema self-care to self-care alone over a 6-month period. Twenty-three women with stable unilateral BCRL of ≥10 % excess limb volume (ELV) were randomly allocated to a daily home-based exercise programme and self-care (n = 11) or self-care measures alone (n = 12). The primary objective was to determine difference in limb volume reduction for the two groups. Secondary objectives were to monitor change in other areas that impact BCRL: quality of life, arm function and range of shoulder movement. All 23 women completed the trial, providing full data for each time point. The intervention group showed a clinically and statistically significant improvement in relative ELV at week 26 (95 % confidence interval (CI) -26.57 to -5.12), whereas the control group improvement crossed the line of no effect (95 %CI -17.71 to 1.1). This study demonstrated the feasibility of conducting a RCT of exercise as a therapeutic intervention in the management of BCRL. Although the sample was small, the results support the findings of other exercise studies which have shown trends towards improvement.

Springerlink