Abstract

SILVA, Silvia Helena da  and  GODOY, José Maria Pereira de. Diagnosis and Prevalence of Lymphedema in Post-mastectomy Women. Arq Med [online]. 2009, vol.23, n.4, pp.141-143. ISSN 2183-2447.

Introduction: Lymphedema after mastectomy is one of the main complications resulting from treatment. The best manner to measure lymphedema is debatable as there are several methods to evaluate the size of limbs. Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of lymphedema after mastectomy using volumetry and perimetry. Patients and Method: A total of 89 female patients from the region of Catanduva, São Paulo, were included in the survey after being submitted to the surgical treatment of breast cancer. Both of the individuals’ arms were measured using volumetry and perimetry to compare the two methods. The arm was considered to be suffering from lymphoedema when there was a difference of 200 mL or more using volumetry or a difference of 2 centimeters or greater using perimetry. The Fisher exact test was utilized for statistical analysis with differences presented as percentages. Results: Time after surgery ranged from 1 month to 18 years with a mean of 4.5 years with the greatest number of surgeries occurring 2.6 years previously. A significant difference was seen in the prevalence calculated by volumetry (32.5%) and perimetry (48.3%). Conclusions: The prevalence detected in this study has been reported in other publications. There are significant differences between the two methods utilized suggesting a need for standardization in the evaluation of lymphedema.

Keywords : lymphedema; breast cancer; volumetry; perimetry.

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