• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.280-290
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• 2022

Background: This study aimed to determine the impact of complex decongestive therapy applications on upper extremity function in breast cancer patients who developed adhesive capsulitis after lymphedema. Methods: Thirty patients who developed adhesive capsulitis due to lymphedema were divided into two groups as study (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. Both groups received 20 minutes of exercise five days a week for three weeks using a Biodex isokinetic dynamometer, as well as a hot pack and TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) treatment to the shoulder joint. The study group received 45 minutes of intensive decongestive therapy along with the adhesive capsulitis treatment. The visual analogue scale was used to assess pain, circumference, and volumetric measurements were used to assess edema, and the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Problems Questionnaire (DASH: Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand) was used to assess upper extremity functionality. The shoulder range of motion was evaluated. Results: Both groups had improvements in pain (P < 0.001), shoulder joint range of motion (P < 0.001), and upper extremity functionality (P < 0.001) after the treatment. There was a significant decrease in circumference and volumetric measurements in the study group (P < 0.001). However, no differences were seen in measurements in the control group. Conclusions: The results showed that complex decongestive therapy was beneficial in reducing lymphedema in breast cancer patients who acquired adhesive capsulitis due to lymphedema. Consequently, the authors believe that supplementing conventional physiotherapy with complex decongestive therapy will benefit patients.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.158-162
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• 2018

Breast cancer related lymphedema (BCRL) is one of the most intractable complications after surgery. Patients suffer from physical impairment, as well as psychological depression. Moreover, a recent study revealed that cellulitis significantly increased the risk of BCRL, and cellulitis has been suggested as a risk factor of BCRL development. We describe a patient treated with stellate ganglion blocks (SGBs) without steroid for relief of symptoms and reduction of the arm circumference of breast cancer-related infectious lymphedema in a month. We measured the arm circumference at four locations; 10 cm and 5 cm above and below the elbow crease, numeric rating scale (NRS) score, lymphedema and breast cancer questionnaire (LBCQ) score on every visit to the pain clinic. A serial decrease of the arm circumference and pain score were observed after second injection. In the middle of the process, cellulitis recurred, we performed successive SGBs to treat infectious lymphedema. The patient was satisfied with the relieved pain and swelling, especially with improved shoulder range of motion as it contributes to better quality of life. This case describes the effects of SGB for infectious BCRL patients. SGB could be an alternative or ancillary treatment for infectious BCRL patients.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.178-183
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• 2009

Angiosarcoma is a very rare disease of soft tissue sarcoma, and angiosarcoma arising in a region of chronic lymphedema is referred to as Stewart-Treves syndrome. it typically occurs in postmastectomy lymphedema of the arm and sporadically in a lymphedematous leg. The prognosis, even with wide surgical excision and subsequent radiotherapy, is poor. The authors experienced a case of angiosarcoma in a chronically lymphedematous leg which had undergone hysterectomy due to cervical cancer 17 years ago and lymphedema of leg persists for about 16 years. We report a case of angiosarcoma with a brief review of the literature.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.503-510
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• 2014

Lymphatic vessels provide essential roles in maintaining fluid homeostasis and lipid absorption. Dysfunctions of the lymphatic vessels lead to debilitating pathological conditions, collectively known as lymphedema. In addition, lymphatic vessels are a critical moderator for the onset and progression of diverse human diseases including metastatic cancer and obesity. Despite their clinical importance, there is no currently effective pharmacological therapy to regulate functions of lymphatic vessels. Recent efforts to manipulate the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C (VEGFC) pathway, which is arguably the most important signaling pathway regulating lymphatic endothelial cells, to alleviate lymphedema yielded largely mixed results, necessitating identification of new targetable signaling pathways for therapeutic intervention for lymphedema. Zebrafish, a relatively new model system to investigate lymphatic biology, appears to be an ideal model to identify novel therapeutic targets for lymphatic biology. In this review, we will provide an overview of our current understanding of the lymphatic vessels in vertebrates, and discuss zebrafish as a promising in vivo model to study lymphatic vessels.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Oriental Medical Informatics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.95-103
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• 2008

Objectives : The purpose of this case is to report the improvement of a patient with lymphedema due to axillary lymph node dissection after acupuncture therapy and herbal medicine. Methods : We treated the patient with Dong-Qi acupuncture, herbal medication(木通大安湯), lymph absorption massage, compresses, abdominal breathing. We measured the circumference of the patient's elbow and wrist every day at 6pm. Results : Since being hospitalized, the circumference of the patient' elbow and wrist has been decreased and VAS score has gotten lower gradually. Conclusions : We considered Dong-Qi acupuncture, herbal medication had a useful effect on lymphedema due to axillary lymph node dissection with lymph absorption massage, compresses, abdominal breathing.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.153-161
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• 2013

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of complex theraputic exercise on visual analog scale of pain, shoulder' range of motion for middle-aged women with breast cancer related lymphedema. METHODS: The 14 middle-aged women involved voluntary in this study and then they were divided into two groups(n =7 per group). The complex exercise program was implemented over 4 weeks, 60 minutes per day, with 3 types of exercise for stimulation whereas the control group was performed a classical decongestive physiotherapy in a same day. For data analysis, the mean and standard deviation were estimated; 2 way repeated measures ANOVA was carried out. RESULTS: First, The level of VAS was significantly reduced on time, interaction effect in the group. Second, most factors of ROM were significantly increased on time, interaction effect whereas extension was not significantly increased. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, Our results showed that complex therapeutic exercise could improve or maintain VAS and ROM of shoulder joint for middle-aged women with breast cancer related lymphedema.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.450-454
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• 2002

A five-year-old, female Great Dane dog with edema, localized trauma, mild pain, and lameness of the right hind limb was referred to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital of Chungbuk National University. This dog had a history of mammary tumor excisions 6 months ago. Abnormal changes were not seen in the values of complete blood count and serum biochemical tests. But pedal direct lymphangiography using aqueous-based radiographic agent showed the obstructed lymph flow in right popliteal lymph node. Based on these observations, the dog was suspected as lymphedema resulted from lymph drainage flilure without any other possibilities of inflammation or other causes. Although recommended chemotherapy and physiotherapy had been applied for resolvinr presented problems for one month, there was no improvement on edema of damaged region and any other clinical signs. Therefore, the necropsy was performed after euthanasia under agreement of the owner of patient. In histopatholofical examination, the most characteristic lesions in the mass of femoral region were diffuse edema fibrosis and neoplastic cells in the lymphatics. Also, the neoplastic cells were very similar to those found in the tumor mass of mammary gland, which had diagnosed as fibrosing carcinoma. These facts suggested that the cause of obstructed lymph flow was the neoplasia in lymphatics of the right hind limb. With these results, a diagnosis of malignant lymphedema was made in this dog.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2012

Purpose : The purpose of study was aimed to identify whether the painless dynamic PNF techniques makes any differences in reducing lymphedema by applying this technique to lymphedema patients, and to provide the basic reference data for the purpose of applying to lymphedema patients. Methods : A total of 40 women participated in this study, and they did PNF techniques before applying lymph compression bandages. Group 1 of 20 subjects performed PNF techniques three times a week with 30 minutes each time. Group 2 of 20 subjects only practiced edema reducing massaging for 30 minutes. Results : In addition, the interaction between treatment method and treatment time was significant (p<.0001), which indicates that the changes in edema rates by measurement times appear differently according to treatment methods. In this study, it means that the 'PNF techniques' group has a steeper slope of decline than the 'message' group. Conclusion : In conclusion, both massaging and PNF techniques helped to lower edema rates. Four weeks after the beginning of treatment, PNF techniques was exhibited as generating a large degree of decline in edema rates than massaging.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2022.09a
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• pp.20-20
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• 2022

Herein, we demonstrate that butein (1) can prevent swelling in a murine lymphedema model by suppressing tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) production. Butein derivatives were synthesized and evaluated to identify compounds with in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. Among them, 20 µM of compounds 7j, 7m, and 14a showed 50% suppression of TNF-α production in mouse peritoneal macrophages after lipopolysaccharide stimulation. Compound 14a, exhibited the strongest potency with an in vitro IC₅₀ of 14.6 µM and suppressed limb volume by 70% in a murine lymphedema model. The prodrug strategy enabled a six-fold increase in kinetic solubility of compound 1 and five-fold higher levels of active metabolite in the blood for compound 14a via oral administration in the pharmacokinetics study. We suggest that the compound 14a could be developed as a potential therapeutic agent targeting anti-inflammatory activity to alleviate lymphedema progression.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 2016

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to confirm the effect of exercise combined with scapular stabilizing on resting scapular position (RSP) in breast cancer-related lymphedema patients. METHODS: A total of 20 patients with lymphedema after mastectomy participated in the study. All assessments of the patients edema sides (ES) and non-edema sides (NES) were evaluated. The assessment tools used wad RSP. RSP are; 1) scapular index, 2) 8th thoracic spines process (T8S) to inferior angle of scapular (IA) distance, 3) standing pectoralis minor (PM) distance, and 4) PM index (PMI). All patients carried out a scapular stabilizing exercise seven times a week for 8 weeks. The collected data were analyzed with PASW 18.0. The statistical significance (${\alpha}$) was 0.05. RESULTS: According to the results, all the variable between the ES and NES for RSP were statistically significant (p<0.05) in the pre-test. After the exercise, the differences in T8S to IA distance and the PMI between the ES and NES weren't statistically significant. The results of the RSP showed a significant improvement in T8S to IA distance, standing PM distance, and PMI. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that, performing the scapular stabilizing exercise had a significant effect on improving RPS in breast cancer-related lymphedema patients.