de-la-Cruz-Fernández Laura, Galiano-Castillo Noelia, Galván-Banqueri Pilar, Castro-Martín Eduardo, Lozano-Lozano Mario, Postigo-Martin Paula, Lopez-Garzon Maria
Huétor Salud Fisioterapia, Granada, Andalucía, Spain.
Biomedical Group (BIO277), Department of Physical Therapy, Health Sciences Faculty, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
Support Care Cancer. 2025 Apr 26;33(5):420. doi: 10.1007/s00520-025-09438-1.
Lymphedema is one of the most common side effects following oncological treatment. This systematic review analyzed the latest literature concerning the efficacy of physical therapy interventions in treating secondary lymphedema in patients with head and neck cancer.
Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Library were searched for studies published before August 2023. Randomized controlled trials in which physical therapy was applied to treat lymphedema in head and neck cancer were included. Reviewers blinded screened the articles retrieved, scored methodological quality, and extracted data. The review was conducted according to the PRISMA statement and registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023439643). Risk of bias assessment was performed using the Cochrane tools.
A total of four randomized controlled trials were included. They comprise 167 patients, and only one of the studies achieved a low risk of bias. Interventions were kinesio taping, compression therapy, manual lymphatic drainage and/or exercise applied in combination with skin care and self-management. Some adverse effects related to intervention were mild and transitory.
The findings shown by this review were that an exercise program plus manual lymphatic drainage supplemented with kinesio taping or compression therapy could be beneficial for external lymphedema. Neither therapy achieved an improvement in internal lymphedema.
淋巴水肿是肿瘤治疗后最常见的副作用之一。本系统评价分析了有关物理治疗干预对头颈部癌患者继发性淋巴水肿疗效的最新文献。
检索了Medline、科学网、Scopus和Cochrane图书馆中2023年8月之前发表的研究。纳入了应用物理治疗对头颈部癌淋巴水肿进行治疗的随机对照试验。评审员进行盲法筛选检索到的文章，对方法学质量进行评分，并提取数据。本评价按照PRISMA声明进行，并在PROSPERO（CRD42023439643）中注册。使用Cochrane工具进行偏倚风险评估。
共纳入四项随机对照试验。这些试验包括167名患者，且只有一项研究的偏倚风险较低。干预措施包括肌内效贴布、压迫疗法、手动淋巴引流和/或运动，并结合皮肤护理和自我管理。与干预相关的一些不良反应轻微且短暂。
本评价的结果表明，运动计划加手动淋巴引流并辅以肌内效贴布或压迫疗法可能对外周性淋巴水肿有益。两种疗法均未使中心性淋巴水肿得到改善。
