Institution: Unifesp – SP
Objectives: To assess the incidence of lymphedema six months after breast surgery in two different groups of rehabilitation. Method: Randomized clinical trial, 2 groups: Physiotherapy (F) and Orientation (O). Patients were excluded undergone previous surgery for breast or introduce major orthopedic and neurological disorders. Both groups received postoperative orientation, commonly performed in the sector. Patients in group F, in addition to the guidelines, made 8 weekly physical therapy sessions with resistance exercises for the upper limbs, which began on the 30th day after surgery (PO30) until the 90th day (PO90). The initial weight was 0.5 kg for all patients and this increase was gradual, according to the individual capacity; each patient should hold two sessions with the same weight with no complaint of pain or heaviness in the arm before their increase. It began with a series of 10 replications and, at most, performed three sets of 10 repetitions of each power exercise. The perimeter of the upper limbs was assessed preoperatively, PO90 and six months after surgery (PO180). Results: The study included 121 patients, 59 in group F and 62 group O. But, in PO180 attended to reassess 44 patients in the F group and 49 in O. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in any of the periods evaluated for the presence of lymphoedema. In PO90, the incidence of lymphedema was 4.45% in group F and 5.88% in the group O (p = 0.680). In PO180, group F had an incidence of 15.9% and the 4.08% group O (p = 0.091). Conclusion: Muscle strengthening after the breast surgery does not increase
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