Objective To explore the preventive effectiveness of early physiotherapy on arm lymphedema after modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer. Methods A total of 206 patients who underwent modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer in The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University from June 2014 to June 2016, enrolled in this randomized controlled clinical trial. Then these patients were randomly divided into intervention group and control group equally. Patients in the control group received routine treatment, and the patients in the intervention group began to use the air pressure pump combined with the microwave physiotherapy on the second day after the radical surgery. The incidences of limb lymphedema in 6 months and 1 year after operation between the 2 groups were compared, and the influencing factors of arm lymphedema were explored. Results The clinical data of 195 patients were analyzed at end, including 99 patients of the intervention group and 96 patients of the control group. ① There were statistical significance in the incidences of arm lymphedema in 6 months and 1 year after operation between the 2 groups (P<0.05), that incidences of arm lymphedema in the intervention group were both lower than those of the control group at the2 time points [6 months after operation: 2.0% (2/99)vs. 9.4% (9/96); 1 year after operation: 5.1% (5/99) vs. 17.7% (17/96)]. ② The results of non-conditional logistic regression analysis shown that, age (OR=1.45, P=0.008), tumor location (OR=1.72, P<0.001), TNM stage (OR=2.01, P=0.033), the number of invasive axillary lymph nodes (OR=1.15, P=0.005), and postoperative radiotherapy (OR=1.23, P=0.016) were the influencing factors of arm lymphedema after modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer, patients with age older than 60 years, tumor position at the outside area, stage Ⅲ of TNM, the number of invasive axillary lymph nodes >5, and patients received radiotherapy after operation had high risk of arm lymphedema. Conclusion Early physiotherapy can effectively prevent the occurrence of arm lymphedema after modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer, and early physiotherapy should be performed for patients with high risk of arm lymphedema.
ObjectiveTo summarize the application progress of indocyanine green (ICG) angiography in diagnosis and treatment of lymphedema.MethodsThe literature related to dynamic imaging tracing of lymphedema at home and abroad was reviewed extensively. And the research status and progress of ICG angiography in diagnosis and treatment of lymphedema were retrospectively analyzed.ResultsICG angiography can be used as the gold standard for the diagnosis of lymphedema at present and the classification of lymphedema severity, selection of surgical incisions and methods, and intraoperative operation. It can also be used to observe lymphatic drainage and regeneration within 1.5 cm of subcutaneous and determine the prognosis.ConclusionCompared with traditional methods, ICG angiography has more obvious advantages and value in diagnosis and treatment of lymphedema. However, it also has problems such as slow development speed and difficulty in developing deep lymphatic vessels (nodes).
Objective To summarize the research progress of combined surgical treatment of lymphedema based on vascularized lymph node transfer (VLNT), and to provide systematic information for combined surgical treatment of lymphedema. MethodsLiterature on VLNT in recent years was extensively reviewed, and the history, treatment mechanism, and clinical application of VLNT were summarized, with emphasis on the research progress of VLNT combined with other surgical methods. Results VLNT is a physiological operation to restore lymphatic drainage. Multiple lymph node donor sites have been developed clinically, and two hypotheses have been proposed to explain its mechanism for the treatment of lymphedema. But it has some inadequacies such as slow effect and limb volume reduction rate less than 60%. To address these inadequacies, VLNT combined with other surgical methods for lymphedema has become a trend. VLNT can be used in combination with lymphovenous anastomosis (LVA), liposuction, debulking operation, breast reconstruction, and tissue engineered material, which have been shown to reduce the volume of affected limbs, reduce the incidence of cellulitis, and improve patients’ quality of life. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that VLNT is safe and feasible in combination with LVA, liposuction, debulking operation, breast reconstruction, and tissue engineered material. However, many issues need to be solved, including the sequence of two surgeries, the interval between two surgeries, and the effectiveness compared with surgery alone. Rigorous standardized clinical studies need to be designed to confirm the efficacy of VLNT alone or in combination, and to further discuss the subsistent issues in the use of combination therapy.
ObjectiveTo summarize the progress of the roles and mechanisms of various types of stem cell-based treatments and their combination therapies in both animal studies and clinical trials of lymphedema. MethodsThe literature on stem cell-based treatments for lymphedema in recent years at home and abroad was extensively reviewed, and the animal studies and clinical trials on different types of stem cells for lymphedema were summarized.ResultsVarious types of stem cells have shown certain effects in animal studies and clinical trials on the treatment of lymphedema, mainly through local differentiation into lymphoid endothelial cells and paracrine cytokines with different functions. Current research focuses on two cell types, adipose derived stem cells and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, both of which have their own advantages and disadvantages, mainly reflected in the therapeutic effect of stem cells, the difficulty of obtaining stem cells and the content in vivo. In addition, stem cells can also play a synergistic role in combination with other treatments, such as conservative treatment, surgical intervention, cytokines, biological scaffolds, and so on. However, it is still limited to the basic research stage, and only a small number of studies have completed clinical trials. ConclusionStem cells have great transformation potential in the treatment of lymphedema, but there is no unified standard in the selection of cell types, the amount of transplanted cells, and the timing of transplantation.