Effects of a scapula-oriented shoulder exercise programme on upper limb dysfunction in breast cancer survivors: a randomized controlled pilot trial

Abstract

Scapula-oriented exercise had beneficial effects on pain, quality of life and aspects of strength. The sample size required in a larger definitive study is 32 subjects per group.

The Efficacy of Exercise Therapy in Reducing Shoulder Pain Related to Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review

“…The results, as measured by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), demonstrated that the scapularoriented exercise group had significant improvements in pain (p ¼ 0.007) compared to the historical control group. 19 However, differences between the two exercise groups (scapular-oriented and general exercises) were not found to be significant. 19 Le Vu and colleagues 13 conducted an RCT comparing the efficacy of shoulder mobilization exercises, massage, or a combination of the two in reducing shoulder pain after breast cancer surgery.…”

“…19 However, differences between the two exercise groups (scapular-oriented and general exercises) were not found to be significant. 19 Le Vu and colleagues 13 conducted an RCT comparing the efficacy of shoulder mobilization exercises, massage, or a combination of the two in reducing shoulder pain after breast cancer surgery. Based on a self-report of pain or no pain, the frequency of pain did not differ between groups either at postoperative day 7 or at the 3-month follow-up.…”

“…13,[19][20][21][22] We were not able to perform a meta-analysis because of the heterogeneity of the exercise types included in each study's exercise regime and the timing of these exercise regimes in relation to cancer treatment (see Table 2 for specific details of the included studies). This section summarizes each study's findings, discussing types of exercises used and their association with outcome measures of pain.…”

“…24 Three of the four studies that used the VAS reported specific numbers; two studies demonstrated substantial change, one study did not find a significant difference between intervention and control groups, and one study demonstrated minimal change. [18][19][20][21] Lee and colleagues 19 also measured pain using the BPI, which evaluates both the intensity of pain and the degree to which it interferes with a person's life. 19 An 11-point numeric rating scale (0 ¼ no pain, 10 ¼ pain as bad as you can imagine) is used to measure pain intensity 19 ; life interference is measured using a sevenquestion evaluation with the same 0-10 response scale.…”

“…16 Each reviewer received and reviewed a total of six articles (four RCTs and two case series). Inter-rater reliability of the PEDro scores was calculated using percentage agreement of the raters' evaluations of two articles 18,19 and by comparing their results with those of two experts (OC and JS). For the two articles assessed, there was raw agreement of 90.9% between the two raters (k ¼ 0.74, p < 0.05) and expert evaluators (k ¼ 0.74-1, p < 0.05).…”