COMPARING TWO TREATMENT METHODS FOR POST MASTECTOMY LYMPHEDEMA: COMPLEX DECONGESTIVE THERAPY ALONE AND IN COMBINATION WITH INTERMITTENT PNEUMATIC COMPRESSION

Abstract

There is no cure for breast cancerrelated lymphedema. This study wasconducted to compare two treatment methodsfor postmastectomy lymphedema: ComplexDecongestive Therapy (CDT) and ModifiedCDT (MCDT) combined with IntermittentPneumatic Compression (IPC). One hundredand twelve patients referred to theLymphedema Clinic of the Iranian Center forBreast Cancer in 2008, were included in arandomized clinical trial. They were randomlyallocated into two equal groups receiving dailyCDT alone or in combination with IPC. Thevolume reduction of the upper limb wasmeasured by water displacement volumetry.No statistically significant differences indemographic and clinical variables betweenthe two groups were observed. During theintensive phase (phase I) of treatment, CDTalone yielded a significantly higher meanvolume reduction than the combinationmodality (43.1% vs. 37.5%; p = 0.036). Limbvolume measured three months followingtreatment, showed 16.9% volume reduction byCDT alone, and 7.5% reduction by MCDTplus IPC. This study demonstrated that theuse of CDT alone, or in combination with IPCsignificantly reduced limb volume in patients with post mastectomy lymphedema. CDTalone provided better results in both treatmentphases. Further studies will help to define therole of multidisciplinary approaches in themanagement of postmastectomy lymphedema.