Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey.
Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2021 Sep;30(5):e13440. doi: 10.1111/ecc.13440. Epub 2021 Mar 18.
Breast cancer survivors with secondary upper limb lymphoedema (ULL) may report a wide range of self-reported symptoms. At the moment, no overview of ULL-specific symptoms is available. The first aim, therefore, was to compare the prevalence rates of self-reported signs and symptoms in people with and without secondary ULL due to breast cancer treatment. The second aim was to determine whether symptoms of lymphoedema could be predictive for the development of ULL. The third aim was to describe the association between the presence/severity of symptoms and the presence/severity of ULL.
A systematic search was conducted in Medline, Scopus, CINAHL and EMBASE databases, with key words related to breast cancer, symptoms and ULL.
Twenty-nine articles were eligible. The most frequently reported signs and symptoms were swelling (80.9%) and heaviness (66.7%) in the ULL group and tenderness (37%) and numbness (27%) in the non-ULL group. Perceived larger arm size, as well as feelings of arm tightness, stiffness, puffiness, pain, sensory disturbances and functional changes were predictive for the development of ULL. Moderate correlations were found between the presence of swelling, firmness in the past year and tightness now and severity of ULL. There was also moderate correlation between the presence of swelling and heaviness now and the presence of ULL.
Swelling and heaviness are the most commonly reported symptoms in patients with ULL. The presences of these two symptoms are moderately correlated with the presence and/or severity of ULL. Although limited information regarding the predictive self-reported symptoms for the development of ULL was found. Further research with standardised definitions of ULL and validated questionnaires for self-reported signs and symptoms are needed to confirm which signs and symptoms are related to ULL and which to other upper limb morbidities.
患有继发性上肢淋巴水肿（ULL）的乳腺癌幸存者可能会报告各种自报告症状。目前，尚无 ULL 特异性症状的概述。因此，第一个目的是比较因乳腺癌治疗而患有和不患有继发性 ULL 的人群中自报告体征和症状的患病率。第二个目的是确定淋巴水肿的症状是否可以预测 ULL 的发展。第三个目的是描述症状的存在/严重程度与 ULL 的存在/严重程度之间的关系。
在 Medline、Scopus、CINAHL 和 EMBASE 数据库中进行了系统搜索，使用与乳腺癌、症状和 ULL 相关的关键词。
有 29 篇文章符合条件。在 ULL 组中，最常报告的体征和症状是肿胀（80.9%）和沉重感（66.7%），而非 ULL 组中最常报告的体征和症状是压痛（37%）和麻木感（27%）。感知手臂尺寸增大，以及手臂紧绷、僵硬、肿胀、疼痛、感觉障碍和功能变化等感觉与 ULL 的发展相关。在过去一年中肿胀、硬结的存在以及现在的手臂紧绷感与 ULL 的严重程度之间存在中度相关性。肿胀的存在与现在的沉重感与 ULL 的存在之间也存在中度相关性。
肿胀和沉重感是 ULL 患者最常报告的症状。这两种症状的存在与 ULL 的存在和/或严重程度中度相关。尽管关于 ULL 发展的预测性自报告症状的信息有限，但需要进一步研究具有 ULL 标准化定义和经过验证的自报告体征和症状的问卷，以确定哪些体征和症状与 ULL 相关，哪些与其他上肢疾病相关。
