Abstract
Objective to evaluate techniques of massage and pumping in the treatment of postpartum breast engorgement through thermography. Method the study was conducted in the Human Milk Bank of a hospital in Curitiba, Brazil. We randomly selected 16 lactating women with engorgement with the classification lobar, ampullary and glandular, moderate and intense. We compared the differential patterns of temperature, before and after the treatment by means of massage and pumping. Results we found a negative gradient of 0.3°C of temperature between the pre- and post-treatment in the experimental group. Breasts with intense engorgement were 0.7°C warmer when compared with moderate engorgement. Conclusion massage and electromechanical pumping were superior to manual methods when evaluated by thermography. REBEC: U1111-1136-9027.
Highlights
Mammary engorgement, in the breastfeeding process, is the first symptom encountered by the mother in the self-regulation of the physiology of lactation
It was found that there were few reports about evaluation methods of breast engorgement (BE) in lactation. It was proposed, using infrared thermography as an experimental technology to assess the results produced by massage and mechanical pumping, since this technique had not been applied in any research similar to this
We inspected the breasts of the volunteers, it was observed that none of the lactating mothers presented BE of the lobular type
Summary
In the breastfeeding process, is the first symptom encountered by the mother in the self-regulation of the physiology of lactation. Breast engorgement arises from the increased vascularity and accumulation of milk and, secondarily, by lymphatic and vascular congestion(3). Signals arise such as pain, interstitial edema, increase in the volume of the breasts(4), shiny skin, flattened nipples, with or without accompanying diffuse and reddened areas(3), elevation of the body temperature including a febrile state. Thermography is a technique widely used in the industrial sector and still incipient in the medical field even though it is innocuous. It is configured as a method of capturing infrared radiation emitted by a body, determining its temperature(7). Starting from the thermographic inspection, differential patterns of thermal distribution are observed, providing information related to a particular process that is occurring in the body(8), establishing itself up to the present as an auxiliary component for diagnosis(9)
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