Treatment of breast-cancer-related lymphedema with or without manual lymphatic drainage - A randomized study

A prospective randomized study was carried out to investigate whether the a ddition of manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) to the standard therapy could im prove treatment outcome in women with lymphedema of the ipsilateral arm aft er breast cancer treatment. Forty-two patients were randomly assigned to re ceive standard therapy or standard therapy plus MLD 8 times in 2 weeks and training in self-massage. The standard therapy consisted of use of a compre ssion garment, exercises and information about lymphedema and skin care. Th e efficacy of treatment was evaluated by reduction in lymphedema volume dur ing treatment and by improvement in symptoms potentially related to lymphed ema. The patients were followed-up for a total of 12 months. The study show ed that both groups obtained a significant reduction in edema and that MLD did not contribute significantly to reduce edema volume.