ArticleJournal of physiotherapy2011
Manual lymph drainage when added to advice and exercise may not be effective in preventing lymphoedema after surgery for breast cancer.
Article in Journal of physiotherapy, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative efficacy of various physical therapies on pain, fatigue, quality of life and functional impairment in breast cancer survivors: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of complete decongestive therapy and a home program for patients with post mastectomy lymphedema.Journal of physical therapy science · 2015Article
- Role of physiotherapy and patient education in lymphedema control following breast cancer surgery.Therapeutics and clinical risk management · 2015Article
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
unlabelledSummary of: Devoogdt N et al (2011) Effect of manual lymph drainage in addition to guidelines and exercise therapy on arm lymphoedema related to breast cancer: randomized controlled trial. BMJ 343: d5326. [Prepared by Nicholas Taylor, CAP Editor.] QUESTION: Does manual lymph drainage prevent lymphoedema in patients who have had surgery for breast cancer?.
designRandomised, controlled trial with concealed allocation and blinded outcome assessment.
settingA multidisciplinary breast centre of a tertiary hospital in Belgium.
participantsPatients were eligible to be included if they received unilateral surgery with axillary node dissection for breast cancer, and agreed to participate. Randomisation of 160 participants allocated 79 to the intervention group and 81 to a control group.
interventionsBoth groups received guidelines about the prevention of lymphoedema in the form of a brochure, and exercise therapy involving supervised individualised 30 minute sessions - initially twice a week, reducing to once fortnightly as patients progressed. Participants in both groups were also asked to perform exercises at home twice/day. In addition, the intervention group received 40 sessions of manual lymph drainage over 20 weeks with each session lasting 30 minutes and performed by trained therapists. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes were the cumulative incidence of and the time to develop arm lymphoedema (defined as a 200 ml increase) as measured with the water displacement method with measures taken at baseline and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Secondary outcome measures were lymphoedema measured with the arm circumference method, health-related quality of life using the SF-36 scale, and a patient reported questionnaire to score the presence of subjective arm lymphoedema.
results154 participants (96%) completed the study at 12 months. At 12 months the incidence of lymphoedema in the intervention group (n=18, 24%) was similar to the incidence of lymphoedema in the control group (n = 15, 19%, OR 1.3, 95% CI 0.6 to 2.4); also there was no difference in incidence at 3 or 6 months. There was no difference between the groups in the time taken to develop lymphoedema, and no difference between the groups in any secondary outcome measure.
conclusionThe application of manual lymph drainage after axillary node dissection for breast cancer in addition to providing guidelines and exercise therapy did not prevent lymphoedema in the first year after surgery.
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Registered trials
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