The Correlation Between Fluid Distribution and Swelling or Subjective Symptoms of the Trunk in Lymphedema Patients: A Preliminary Observational Study

Abstract

Background: Manual lymph drainage (MLD) is one of the common treatments for breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). Although the primary goal of MLD is to drain the excessive fluid accumulated in the affected upper limb and trunk to an area of the body that drains usually, the use of MLD is decided based on swelling and subjective symptoms, without assessing whether there is fluid accumulated in the affected region. The purpose of this study was to examine truncal fluid distribution in a sample of BCRL patients and investigate any correlation between such fluid distribution and swelling or subjective symptoms.

Methods and Results: An observational study was conducted with 13 women who had unilateral, upper extremity BCRL. Fluid distribution was evaluated by using two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences: half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin echo and three-dimensional double-echo steady-state. The presence of swelling was determined by lymphedema therapists, and subjective symptoms were measured by using a visual analog scale. On MRI, no participants had any free water signals in the trunk. However, seven had swelling and all 13 had some kind of subjective symptoms on the affected side of their trunk.

Conclusions: These results suggest that swelling and subjective symptoms do not correlate with the presence of truncal fluid. For such cases, a different approach than MLD may be needed to address truncal swelling and related subjective symptoms. Checking for the presence of fluid in the truncal region may help MLD be used more appropriately.