SynthesisFrontiers in oncology2026
Efficacy of physical therapy for prevention and treatment of postoperative lymphedema in breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Lymphedema represents a prevalent complication following breast cancer surgery, for which effective interventions can significantly reduce incidence rates. Aims: This systematic review and meta-analysis explored the clinical efficacy of different physical therapy interventions on breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) in postoperative patients with breast cancer (BC). Methods: Comprehensive literature searches were conducted in eight databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, ClinicalTrials.gov, CINAHL, Embase, and Scopus, from their inception until May 31, 2025. After study selection, meta-analyses were performed using Review Manager software (version 5.4). The primary outcome measures were the overall incidence of BCRL, the incidence of BCRL following specific physical interventions, and the incidence of BCRL after different intervention durations. Results: The initial search yielded 3566 publications. 31 studies were included after screening, comprising a total sample size of 4323 patients. Meta-analysis showed that physical intervention had no significant therapeutic (RR = 0.81, 95%CI 0.52 to 1.27, Conclusion: Whether physical intervention is effective in the prevention and treatment of postoperative lymphedema in BC patients' needs to be further explored, but there is a significant effect in the 12-month intervention subgroup. Therefore, we should pay more attention to the effect of physical intervention measures after enough time in clinical practice. The review protocol was registered prospectively in PROSPERO (Registration number: CRD42024615513). Systemetic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/myprospero, identifier CRD42024615513.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.