“
“Summary of: Devoogdt N et al (2011)

Effect of manual lymph drainage in addition to guidelines and exercise therapy on arm lymphoedema related to breast cancer: randomized controlled trial. BMJ 343: d5326. [Prepared by Nicholas Taylor, CAP Editor.] Question: Does manual lymph drainage prevent lymphoedema in patients who have had surgery for breast cancer?. Design: Randomised, controlled trial with concealed allocation and blinded outcome assessment. Setting: A multidisciplinary breast centre of a tertiary hospital in Belgium. Participants: Patients were eligible to be included if they received unilateral surgery with axillary node dissection for breast cancer, and agreed to participate. Randomisation of 160 participants allocated 79 to find more the intervention group and 81 to a control group. Interventions: Both groups received guidelines Gemcitabine cost about the prevention of lymphoedema in the form of a brochure, and exercise therapy involving supervised individualised 30 minute sessions – initially twice a week, reducing to once fortnightly as patients progressed. Participants in both groups were also asked to perform exercises at home twice/day. In addition, the intervention group received 40 sessions of manual lymph drainage over 20 weeks with each session lasting 30 minutes and performed by trained therapists. Outcome measures: The primary outcomes were the

Histamine H2 receptor cumulative incidence of and the time to develop arm lymphoedema (defined as a 200 ml increase) as measured with the water displacement method with measures taken at baseline and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Secondary outcome

measures were lymphoedema measured with the arm circumference method, health-related quality of life using the SF-36 scale, and a patient reported questionnaire to score the presence of subjective arm lymphoedema. Results: 154 participants (96%) completed the study at 12 months. At 12 months the incidence of lymphoedema in the intervention group (n = 18, 24%) was similar to the incidence of lymphoedema in the control group (n = 15, 19%, OR 1.3, 95% CI 0.6 to 2.4); also there was no difference in incidence at 3 or 6 months. There was no difference between the groups in the time taken to develop lymphoedema, and no difference between the groups in any secondary outcome measure. Conclusion: The application of manual lymph drainage after axillary node dissection for breast cancer in addition to providing guidelines and exercise therapy did not prevent lymphoedema in the first year after surgery. The development of arm lymphoedema after axillary node dissection for breast cancer management has been estimated to occur in 20–40% of women (Coen 2003, Hayes 2008). The effect on quality of life for the individual and the cost to public health is well recognised.