Effects of Different Bandaging Methods for Treating Patients With Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema

Abstract

Objective To compare the treatment effects, satisfaction with the treatment, and performance improvement following bandage treatment using the spiral method and spica method for breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). Methods A prospective study with 46 patients with BCRL was conducted. All patients were divided into either the spiral or spica group for non-elastic bandage therapy and received the same treatment for 2 weeks, apart from the group-specific bandaging method used. For both groups, the Quality of Life Instrument score before treatment, changes in the volume of lymphedema limb and the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) score before and after treatment, and treatment satisfaction after treatment were compared. The Student t-test was used to compare the parameters between the two different bandage methods. Results With respect to the treatment outcomes, total volume reduction and proximal part volume reduction after treatment were 98.0±158.3 mL and 56.0±65.4 mL in the spiral method group and 199.0±125.1 mL and 106.1±82.2 mL in the spica method group, respectively. Therefore, the spica method group showed a significantly better improvement (p<0.05). The DASH score changes after treatment showed that the spiral group score increased by 3.8±5.4 and the spica group score increased by 7.7±6.1; thus, a significantly better improvement was noted in the spica group (p<0.05). Conclusion The spica method indicated better volume reduction and DASH score improvement than the spiral method. Therefore, the spica method may be more effective for treating patients with BCRL.

Effectiveness of four types of bandages and kinesio-tape for treating breast-cancer-related lymphoedema: a randomized, single-blind, clinical trial

“…8,31 All the inelastic bandages were applied at full stretch in a spiral method around the limb, with a layer overlap of 50%, so the number of layers was comparable in all bandages. Regarding the method of bandaging, although the study of Oh et al 10 seems to show that the spica method could obtain a better volume reduction than the spiral method, in the present study spiral method has been used in all the bandages since the spica method cannot carry out with the cohesive and adhesive bandages.…”

“…3 External compression increases the interstitial pressure preventing capillary filtration, increasing capillary reabsorption, increasing lymphatic reabsorption and lymphatic transport and improving lymph drainage. 24,31 Although the traditional multilayered inelastic (short-stretch) bandage is the most widely used, 3 there are other types of bandages or kinesio-tape that could be used, [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]26,29,30,32 and our findings may also allow a legitimate use of some of these bandages.…”

“…Despite different types of bandages or kinesio-tape being used in lymphoedema complex decongestive physiotherapy, most of them have not been directly compared 7,9–15 and therefore it is not known which particular bandage is most effective. The aim of our study was to compare the effectiveness of four different bandages and kinesio-tape on upper limb volume.…”

“…7,8 Inelastic multilayer bandages are the most commonly used for treatment of lymphoedema. 3 Despite different types of bandages or kinesiotape being used in lymphoedema complex decongestive physiotherapy, most of them have not been directly compared 7,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] and therefore it is not known which particular bandage is most effective.…”

Adipose-derived regenerative cells and lipotransfer in alleviating breast cancer-related lymphedema: An open-label phase I trial with 4 years of follow-up

“…Unfortunately, little detail about the patients' use of compression therapy before and after treatment is reported. The authors note that multilayered bandaging was applied for 2 weeks and then released for 2 weeks alternatively for the 6‐month study period; however, multilayered bandaging is usually performed just for a few weeks 26,27 . It is not clear why multilayered bandaging was applied for so long in this study and, importantly, when in this rotation the lymphedema measurements were undertaken.…”