Tratamiento fisioterapéutico en el linfedema de miembro superior postmastectomía

Mastectomy-associated upper limb lymphedema is a common disorder among patients (mostly woman) who have undergone this type of surgery. Patients at risk of suffering from this complication must be trained in healthcare habits which may lead to a good hygiene; this may help them to prevent eventual development of lymphedema. Once settled, an early physiotherapy treatment using combined manual lymphatic drainage and compression bandaging will be vital in order to achieve a good outcome, which may allow the patients to improve their quality of life in a significant way. The main goal of the present paper is to propose a protocol for the management of these conditions from the very early stages to the prevention and treatment of potential future complications following the guidelines by Jean Claude Ferrandez. Likewise, in order to evaluate the efficacy of the proposed protocol, patients' clinical condition must be assessed before and after they receive the abovementioned treatment.