Active clinical trials for "Lymphedema"

PURPOSE: To determine the effect of wii-console based exercise on shoulder ROM of both sides for post-mastectomy patients, and highlighting the effect of dominancy.

The primary objective of this study is to determine if hypofractionated RT delivered over 1 week to the breast or chest wall and regional nodes (26Gy in 5 daily fractions) following BCS or mastectomy, is non-inferior to conventional fractionation to the breast or chest wall and regional nodes delivered over 3 weeks (40Gy in 15 daily fractions) in patients with node-positive breast cancer.

This study aims to assess Auto-Adjustable MOBIDERM® Autofit Armsleeve effect on upper limb volume excess after 3 months of maintenance phase treatment in patients with secondary upper limb lymphedema following breast cancer. Half of the patient will wear a day-time and night time compression garment (MOBIDERM Autofit) for 3 months during the maintenance phase, while the other half will only wear day-time compression garment.

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT); It is a treatment method in which high-intensity pressure waves are applied to the desired point in the body. It has been used in the treatment of kidney stones in previous years, and changes in bone tissue have been observed . Today, it is used in musculoskeletal diseases such as plantar fasciitis, epicondylitis, achillestendinitis, and osteoarthritis. The main mechanism of action of ESWT is not clearly known, but many studies have shown that it stimulates the early release of angiogenesis-related growth factors such as endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and increases blood circulation with induced neovascularization, resulting in cell proliferation and tissue growth. It has been shown to increase regeneration . It has been found to be effective in lymphedema with neovascularization and lymphatic channel synthesis . In the literature, there are studies investigating the additional contributions of complex decongestive therapy combined with ESWT in patients with lymphedema.

This randomized clinical trial aims to compare clinic-based CDT and home-based (a hybrid model) CDT on changes in the severity of lymphedema, symptom burden, functional status, and healthcare utilization in HNC survivors with lymphedema.

Lymphoedema is a chronic debilitating disease that can have severe adverse effects on day-to-day life causing great physical and visual discomfort. The clinical presentation is characterised by chronic swelling of limbs, accompanied by localised pain, skin changes and recurrent infections. It is caused by a disruption in lymphatic flow which prevents the normal circulation of interstitial fluid (situated in the spaces between the cells of the body), resulting in swelling of the affected limb. It can be primary (cause unknown) or secondary to a number of causes such as malignancy, trauma, surgery, radiotherapy, infection, or venous disease. In breast cancer treatment, axillary surgery and radiotherapy significantly damage normal lymphatic drainage of the upper limb, causing lymphoedema in 1-in-5 patients. There is a growing body of evidence that this chronic and debilitating condition can be better managed through early surgical intervention rather than the current conservative management, which rely on pressure garments and massage. This surgical intervention, lymphaticovenous anastomosis (LVA), joins up a number of the draining lymphatic vessels to correspondingly sized veins on the affected limb using microsurgical techniques. A special dye and camera system is used to facilitate identifying lymph vessels. This creates a new drainage pathway for the lymph fluid around the area of disruption, improving lymphatic flow. Volume reduction is expected and this would be expected to provide quality of life benefits for the patients. This study seeks to compare the outcomes from both therapies and determine whether LVA surgery can help to improve the physical burden and quality of life for patients affected by lymphoedema. Furthermore, lymphoedema places a substantial burden on NHS services. If this trial is successful, LVA surgery could improve patient outcomes and reduce the overall cost of treatment.

Complete decongestive therapy is proven to be effective in reducing lymphedema related symptoms such as swelling and pain. Breathing exercises, on the other hand, may also help managing lymphedema symptoms. Deep breathing creates a pressure change in the abdomen, which creates a vacuum effect in the thoracic cavity and helps to empty the lymphatic vessels. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether addition of diaphragmatic breathing exercises to physical exercise component of complete decongestive therapy provides further benefits on lymphedema volume, pain and quality of life in patients with breast cancer related lymphedema.

To compare the effects of Kinesio taping and compression garmets on the upper extremity lymphedema,functional disability and quality of life after mastectomy.

To investigate whether the addition of Fibralign's BioBridge® Collagen Matrix (BioBridge) devices to the standard surgery for vascularized lymph node transfer will improve the outcome of surgical treatment in lymphedema of the upper arm.

The primary objective of this research proposal is to investigate in patients with lymphoedema of the upper limb or lower limb (P) the added value of reconstructive lymphatic surgery (I) to the decongestive lymphatic therapy (usual care) (C) on the lymphoedema-specific quality of life (QoL) (O) at 18 months post-surgery/ no surgery (T) Consequently, a multicentre pragmatic randomised controlled trial is performed to give an answer on following research question: 'Is, in addition to usual care - i.e. decongestive lymphatic therapy -, reconstructive lymphatic surgery (intervention group) superior to no surgery (control group), for the treatment of upper or lower limb lymphoedema?'