EFFECTIVENESS OF MANUAL LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE IN IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER RELATED LYMPHEDEMA
Keywords:
Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD), Quality of Life (QoL), Breast Cancer, Compression Bandage, Impairment, Lymphedema Life Impact Scale.Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIM
The body of evidence related to higher incidence of breast cancer related lymphedema after breast surgeries concluded compromise
Quality of Life (QoL) among women over the past decade. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Manual Lymphatic
Drainage (MLD) in improving QoL among women with Breast cancer related Lymphedema.
STUDY DESIGN & PARTICIPANTS
A Quasi Experimental study was conducted on women of the age 36-60 years with stage I and II breast cancer related lymphedema at
Rehabilitation Department of a tertiary care Hospital.
METHODS
Total 70 women recruited with lymphedema were assessed at baseline and after treatment on Lymphedema Life Impact Scale. Manual
lymphatic drainage technique was applied for 3 days in a week for 6 weeks with a compression bandage for first 4 weeks.
RESULTS
The findings showed that Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) technique significantly improves the Lymphedema Life Impact Scale
score after intervention p <0.05 notably in psychological domain of the scale p=0.0001 furthermore, the percentage of impairment was
also reduced significantly from 75.98% to 44.18%.
CONCLUSION
MLD is found to be more effective treatment for improving the overall Quality of Life among women with Breast cancer related
lymphedema.
KEYWORDS
Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD), Quality of Life (QoL), Breast Cancer, Compression Bandage, Impairment, Lymphedema Life Impact Scale.
