Effect of taping as treatment to reduce breast cancer lymphedema: literature review

Abstract Lymphedema is the most common complication during the postoperative period after surgery for breast cancer and can have a direct impact on daily activities. The objective of this study was to review the use of taping as an alternative/complementary treatment to reduce lymphedema. A literature review was conducted of scientific articles indexed on the PubMed, LILACS, MEDLINE, and PEDro databases and Google Scholar, and nine articles were selected. It was found that taping is a complementary therapy for reducing lymphedema, which may be used as an alternative treatment method, but cannot substitute multilayer compression therapy.

摘要：淋巴水肿（lymphedema）是乳腺癌（breast cancer）术后最常见的并发症，可直接对患者的日常活动造成影响。本研究旨在探讨贴扎疗法（taping）作为淋巴水肿的替代或辅助治疗手段以减轻症状的应用效果。本研究通过检索PubMed、LILACS、MEDLINE、PEDro及Google Scholar数据库收录的科学文献开展系统综述，最终筛选纳入9篇相关文献。研究结果表明，贴扎疗法可作为减轻淋巴水肿的辅助疗法，可作为替代治疗方案之一，但无法替代多层加压治疗（multilayer compression therapy）。