Combining reconstructive and ablative surgical treatment of chronic breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL): safe and effective.
Breast Cancer Res Treat
; 197(1): 83-92, 2023 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36287309
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
We investigated whether a one-stage combination of vascularized lymph node transfer (VLNT) with water jet-assisted liposuction (WAL) can be safely performed and results in improved patient outcomes such as a greater reduction in arm volume when treating chronic breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL).METHODS:
In this retrospective cohort study, we included all patients from our encrypted lymphedema database treated for chronic BCRL with VLNT or VLNT + WAL who had a minimum follow-up of two years. We analyzed patient-specific variables including arm circumferences as well as patient-reported outcomes before and after surgery as well as surgery time, surgery-related complications and patient satisfaction.RESULTS:
Only the mean preoperative differences of the circumferences between the lymphedematous and the unaffected arm in individual patients showed a statistically significant difference between treatment groups (p < 0.05). Indeed, patients treated with VLNT + WAL had consistently larger differences in individual sets of arms and therefore more pronounced chronic BCRL. The mean surgery time was significantly longer in the VLNT + WAL group (p < 0.05). Complications were seldom and similar in both groups. Using a numeric rating scale, the level of patient satisfaction following treatment did not differ significantly between groups (p = 0.323).CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings suggest that a one-stage combination of VLNT with WAL does not result in more complications even though it also entails a longer surgery time. This is acceptable as secondary interventions resulting in overall longer surgery times and higher costs can be avoided. A one-stage combination might be especially favourable for patients suffering from more severe chronic BCRL.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
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Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Neoplasias da Mama
/
Linfedema Relacionado a Câncer de Mama
/
Linfedema
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Breast Cancer Res Treat
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Alemanha