Experience of early digital-control pressure treatment on postoperative limb edema in breast cancer patients

Abstract

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of early digital-control pressure treatment for upper limb lymphedema in post-operative breast cancer patients. Methods A total of 60 breast cancer patients selected for nursing interventions according to operation time sequence number by simple random sampling and were equally divided into control group (routine care) and experimental group (early digital-control pressure treatment, set pressure range according to the instrument manual settings and refering to patients′ feel ). We measured and recorded the operative side of arm circumference which was 10 cm above limb cubital fossa before and after treatment. The nursing intervention effects of upper limb lymphedema was compared after 15 days. Results 15 days after the surgery, the upper extremity lymphedema patient had 16 cases accounting for 53.3%, within which 11 cases (36.7%) had mild one, 3 cases (10%) as moderate one, and 2 cases (6.7%) severe one in the control group. However, there was just 4 cases mild edema without moderate and severe one in the experimental group. The difference was statistically significant in the comparing of upper extremity lymphedema rate (χ2=13.16, P<0.01). Conclusions Early application of digital-control pneumatic instrument for nursing intervention in post-operative breast cancer patients can significantly reduce the occurrence degree of limb lymphedema and reduce its incidence. Key words: Breast cancer; Lymphedema; Early digital pressure treatment