[Efficacy of massage and mobilization of the upper limb after surgical treatment of breast cancer]

Abstract

We have compared different modes of rehabilitation after breast cancer surgery on a population of 257 patients treated at the Institute Gustave-Roussy in 1990 and 1991. The mode of rehabilitation was randomized according to a 2 X 2 design, between physiotherapy alone, shoulder movement alone, both or neither. Treatment began the day after breast surgery and continued for 7 days. Afterwards, all patients had physiotherapy and shoulder movements until the end of hospitalisation. Treatment efficacy was evaluated at day 7 by the volume of lymph drained, and by degree of shoulder movement. The volume of lymph collected by day 7 was reduced in the physiotherapy groups, but was not modified in the groups with shoulder movement. The degree of motion was larger in the group who had had both physiotherapy and shoulder movement. The frequencies of complications at day 7 and later were similar in the four treatment groups, but locoregional pain was less frequent in the two groups with shoulder movement than in the two other groups. An early treatment including both physiotherapy and shoulder movement seems advisable.