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Accessory Joint and Neural Mobilizations in Shoulder After Breast Cancer Surgery. Randomized Clinical Trial.

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Breast Cancer
Interventions
Other: Nerve mobilization
Other: Accessory joint mobilization
Registration Number
NCT02366793
Lead Sponsor
University of Alcala
Brief Summary

The potential consequences after breast cancer surgery are joint pain and sensitive disorders, the main sign of which is alterations in shoulder mobility. Global kinesitherapy has been shown to be effective at increasing shoulder range of motion restriction. However, literature does not consider specific manual therapy techniques, which means peripheral nerves and articular capsule have not been taken into account. These two tissues are potentially damaged structures during surgery and they are main responsible for shoulder range of motion restriction The main objective of this study is to pilot the effectiveness of accessory joint and nerve mobilization techniques in order to get an overview of the articular capsule and nerve dysfunctions involvement in shoulder motion restriction.

Detailed Description

Background: The potential consequences after breast cancer surgery are joint pain and sensitive disorders, the main sign of which is alterations in shoulder mobility. Design: Prospective randomized and double-blind pilot trial. Objective: To pilot the effectiveness of accessory joint and nerve mobilization techniques in order to get an overview of the joint capsule and nerve involvement in shoulder motion restriction. Participants: 18 women who were undergoing unilateral breast cancer surgery and axillary lymph node dissection. Setting: Women´s Health Research Group at Physical Therapy Department of University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain. Intervention: accessory joint mobilization versus neural mobilization. Follow-up: Six-month follow-up. Key outcomes: Range of motion, sensitive disorder, pain and upper limb functionality.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
18
Inclusion Criteria
  • unilateral breast cancer diagnosis
  • breast cancer with axillary lymph node dissection
  • be willing to sign the informed consent form
Exclusion Criteria
  • bilateral breast cancer diagnosis
  • loco-regional recurrence
  • systemic disease
  • had not undergone the axillary lymph node dissection approach
  • to present any contraindication for Physical Therapy.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Nerve mobilizationNerve mobilizationneural tissue longitudinal slide using the median neurodynamic test 1 (Butler).
Accessory joint mobilizationAccessory joint mobilizationHumeral head slides, anterior, posterior and caudal slides.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Shoulder Range of motion15 min

Shoulder movements measured: flexion, extension, abduction, external e internal rotation.

Measure instrument: inclinometer. Unit of measure: degrees. Number of participants: 18.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Pain5 min

Measure instrument: Visual Analogue Scale to measure the grade of pain: scale from 0 (no pain) to 10 (unbearable pain). Patients choose where is located their pain throughout this scale.

Unit of measure: from 0 to 10 points. Number of participants: 18.

Upper limb functionality10 min

Measured items: daily life activities related to the upper limb such as to comb, to get washed, to button the bra, to mop the floor, to clean windows, to hang up, to make the bed, to carry the shopping cart, to put on the pullover, to take off the pullover, leisure.

Measure instrument: the Wingate's Daily Life Activities Table to measure the daily life activities difficulty. Patients give a score of how difficult is each daily life activity. Score from 0 (no difficulty) to 3 (disability).

Unit of measure: from 0 to 3 points. Number of participants: 18.

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