Manual Lymphatic Drainage Compared with Simple Lymphatic Drainage in the Treatment of Post-mastectomy Lymphoedema

To determine whether manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) is significantly more effective than simple lymphatic drainage (SLD) in reducing oedematous limb volume in women with breast cancer related arm oedema. Randomised trial. The study measured change in affected limb volume over a two-week intensive t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physiotherapy 2002-02, Vol.88 (2), p.99-107
Main Authors: Sitzia, John, Sobrido, Lydia, Harlow, Wendy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
effectiveness
Lymphoedema
manual lymphatic drainage
randomised trial
simple lymphatic drainage
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Summary:To determine whether manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) is significantly more effective than simple lymphatic drainage (SLD) in reducing oedematous limb volume in women with breast cancer related arm oedema. Randomised trial. The study measured change in affected limb volume over a two-week intensive treatment period. One group of patients (N = 13) was treated with SLD, the other group (N = 15) with MLD. All patients were treated daily by the same lymphoedema specialist nurse and wore multi-layered bandaging between treatments. The sole outcome measure was percentage change in excess limb volume (PCEV) following treatment. The mean percentage reduction in PCEV was 33.8% in the MLD group and 22.0% in the SLD group (mean difference 11.8%, 95%CI = –3.8% to +27.4%). These data suggest that MLD is more effective than SLD in reducing limb swelling. However, the data are not statistically conclusive. These results firmly support the need for this study to be replicated with a larger, statistically viable sample.
ISSN:0031-9406
1873-1465
DOI:10.1016/S0031-9406(05)60933-9