Voluminometric estimation of the degree of lymphedema and its therapy by pneumatic compression

Abstract

The degree of lymphedema of an arm after surgical treatment of breast cancer is usually estimated by the measurement of arm circumference. In this study, the calculation was based on the volume of the arm in order to improve the estimation. The method of measuring the arm volume adopted for these experiments has been tested for precision. Measurements have been made of the decrease of volume due to treatment by lymph pulsator in edematic and healthy arms. A comparison taken between these experiments has allowed for better estimation of the efficiency of lymph pulsator treatment.