COMPLEX PHYSICAL THERAPY FOR LYMPHEDEMA IN POST BREAST CANCER SURGERY PATIENTS: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Objective: To gather evidence in the literature on the effectiveness of complex physical therapy in the treatment of lymphedema in patients undergoing surgical treatment for breast cancer. Method: Studies with randomized clinical trials published in indexed databases PubMed / Medline, SciELO were included, using the main keywords: mastectomy lymphedema, breast cancer surgery, complex physical therapy, physiotherapy, complete decongestive therapy. The methodological quality of the articles was analyzed according to individual components assessment according to the Cochrane Collaboration. Result: Three randomized studies comparing the complex physical therapy to other forms of intervention in patients with lymphedema who underwent breast surgery as a treatment with two articles demonstrating the effectiveness of complex physical therapy in reducing lymphedema found. Conclusion: The complex physical therapy alone appears to be the most effective technique for the treatment of lymphedema. More randomized controlled trials are needed to enable the analysis and comparison of results.