Manual lymphatic drainage for lower limb lymphedema in gynecological cancer patients on status of pain, oedema, fatigue, physical function and quality of life
Description
Lower limb lymphedema is a chronic condition following treatment of gynecologic cancers. It strongly affects patient’s well-being and overall quality of life. Complex/Complete Decongestive Therapy is main line of treatment and Manual Lymphatic Drainage is its major component, but there are few studies which question the effectiveness of Manual Lymphatic Drainage in Lymphedema cases. Many studies have been conducted to check effectiveness of Manual Lymphatic Drainage in case of upper limb lymphedema and the results are contradictory. As per the literature review, there is need of research to find out appropriate treatment modality for lower limb lymphedema. Method: Patients with lower limb lymphedema will be recruited from various cancer hospitals, Delhi. Demographic characteristic will be noted, and testing procedure will be explained.Pain score will be documented using Visual Analog Scale. Lower limb circumference will be taken at specific intervals along with limb and sum of all readings will be considered as reference value. Quality of life will be assessed using European Organization of Research and Treatment for Cancer QLQ C 30 version scale. Brief Fatigue Inventory scale will be used to assess fatigue and Lower Extremity Functional Scale will be used to assess the physical function. Result: 2-way ANOVA will be used for between group comparisons. Post HOC analyses Tukey’s test will be used for significant interactions between groups to find which group is better. Discussion: Results from the proposed study shall help in developing effective, efficient, and successful strategies to improve the gynecologic cancer related lower limb lymphedema.