BENEFITS OF LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE APPLIED IN LYMPHEDEMA BY PHYSIOTHERAPISTS IN THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN AFTER BREAST CANCER

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common malignant neoplasm among women in Brazil, excluding non-melanoma skin tumors. An estimated 73,610 new cases are expected each year from 2023 to 2025. It is a multifactorial pathology associated with endocrine, behavioral, environmental, and genetic factors, with particular emphasis on mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. This study aims to analyze, through a literature review, the benefits of lymphatic drainage applied by physical therapists in the treatment of lymphedema in women post-breast cancer. This study is a descriptive, qualitative study that utilizes a narrative and comparative synthesis of the findings, grouping the evidence according to thematic categories: incidence and epidemiology, risk factors, oncological treatment, physical-functional complications, and physical therapy performance. The selected studies reveal that manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), when applied by physical therapists, is a highly relevant therapeutic resource in the treatment of lymphedema in women after mastectomy. The conclusion is that MLD has the impact of decreasing lymphedema, significantly reducing the volume of the affected upper limb, improving function, increasing joint mobility, the ability to perform daily activities, and improving quality of life, contributing to the reabsorption of interstitial fluids, accelerating healing, stimulating immunity and reabsorption of hematomas and ecchymoses, preventing and reducing the occurrence of secondary complications in the immediate and late postoperative period, and providing pain relief.