Effects of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapyy Added To Complex DecongestiveTherapy In Patient With Breast Cancer Releated Lymphedema

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the leading cause of death in the world. With the advances in early diagnosis and treatment methods, the mortality rate in breast cancer tends to decrease . However, some complications secondary to both the disease and the treatment can be seen in patients who have received treatment. Examples of these complications are; functional disability, advanced peripheral neuropathy secondary to chemotherapy agents, pain, weight loss or weight gain, depression, lymphedema. lymphedema; It is primarily a condition characterized by abnormal accumulation of fluid in the subcutaneous tissue and subfascial layer. Lymphedema occurs as a result of fluid accumulation above the lymphatic carrying capacity or insufficient lymphatic transport. Lymphedema is a chronic progressive disease. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are important to prevent complications (disability, infection, depression, pain, malignant transformation).

Lymphedema secondary to breast cancer was first defined as postmastectomy lymphedema by Hastead in 1921. Treatment of secondary lymphedema is multidisciplinary. The gold standard method is complex decongestive therapy (CDT). It consists of two phases. Phase 1: lasting 2-6 weeks; manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), multilayer bandaging, exercise and skin care. With MLD treatment, fluid is removed and bandaging is applied to prevent re-accumulation. Exercise and skin care are explained to the patient. When the plateau phase is reached in the measurements, the protection phase is started. Phase 2: includes self-massage, exercise, skin care, bandaging and the use of compression garments. Apart from these; Low-dose laser, oral medications, pneumatic compression devices and surgical methods can be used in the treatment of lymphedema. In this study, both groups will receive MLD treatment. In other words, no group will be left without treatment.

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 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. While planning this study, the dose and duration of ESWT were determined based on these studies.