Introduction: Post-mastectomy lymphedema is a chronic, debilitating disorder that is frequently misdiagnosed, treated too late or not treated at all, Lymphedema (LE) is an abnormal accumulation of protein-rich fluid in the interstitium leading to limb swelling, chronic inflammation and reactive fibrosis of the affected tissues resulting from damage to lymphatic circulation following surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. The aim was to investigate the effect of shockwave therapy on the post-mastectomy lymphedema. Subjects and methods: Sixty female patients underwent modified radical mastectomy surgery or lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy associated with unilateral lymphedema (stage 2, 3), into two equal groups; their ages ranged from 30-50 years. The study group received shockwave therapy 2 times/week for 6 weeks plus traditional physical therapy program (manual lymphatic drainage, circulatory exercises with elevation, shoulder ROM exercises and pneumatic compression therapy) 3times /week /6weeks. Control group received traditional physical therapy program (manual lymphatic drainage, circulatory exercises with elevation, shoulder ROM exercises and pneumatic compression therapy) 3times /week /6weeks. Evaluation procedures were carried out to measure the upper limb volume measurement, ROM of shoulder flexion, abduction and external rotation. Results: Post treatment results showed that there was a significant improvement difference in shoulder ROM and upper limb volume in both groups in favor of the study group.

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Chronic nonhealed wound after below-knee amputation is a serious problem that is faced by the health care team; therefore, there is a need to find an adjuvant therapy to address this problem. The aim of the study is to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation on chronic nonhealed wound after below-knee amputation using a digitalized method of evaluation by Adobe Photoshop CS5 aided by magnetic lasso tool. Thirty patients with chronic nonhealed wound (≥4 weeks) after below-knee amputation were randomly divided into 2 equal groups, with 15 participants in each. Group A received the LED irradiation for 24 sessions (3 sessions per week) in addition to the standard medical treatment, and the second experimental group (group B) received the standard medical treatment for 8 weeks. Methods of evaluation included the wound surface area: for tracing the wound perimeter using a computerized software. Results showed that both LED irradiation therapy and standard medical treatment were effective in healing the chronic nonhealed wound, but the LED was more effective than standard medical treatment alone. A clear improvement in the results of wound healing surface area was found in group A, with an improvement percentage of 50.63%, when compared with group B, which used the standard medical treatment alone, with an improvement percentage of 43.96%.

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