Authors: Neetish Gunnoo Michel Ebelin Maria Arrault Stéphane Vignes
Publish Date: 2015/07/19
Volume: 152, Issue: 3, Pages: 683-686
Abstract
Carpal tunnel syndrome may occur in women with ipsilateral lymphedema after breast cancer treatment Surgery on the lymphedematous arm is classically feared Thirtytwo consecutive women mean age at cancer treatment 49 years interquartile range Q1Q3 4356 with upper limb lymphedema after breast cancer treatment followed in a single lymphology unit and symptomatic carpal tunnel syndrome electromyographically confirmed requiring surgery were included Lymphedema volume was calculated using the truncated cone formula recorded before and after carpal tunnel syndrome surgery and at each followup visit Median time to lymphedema onset after cancer treatment was 19 interquartile range Q1Q3 573 months Median lymphedema volume was 497 Q1Q3 355793 mL before median 4 months and 582 Q1Q3 388930 mL after carpal tunnel syndrome surgery median 5 months P = 0004 At the last followup postcarpal tunnel syndrome surgery median 33 months lymphedema volume was 447 Q1Q3 260733 mL nonsignificant compared to presurgery volume Regular lymphedema treatment included elastic sleeve n = 31 lowstretch bandage n = 20 and/or manual lymph drainage n = 20 with no change before and after carpal tunnel syndrome surgery All carpal tunnel syndrome clinical manifestations disappeared after surgery and none of the patients experienced local complications Carpal tunnel syndrome may be treated surgically in women with ipsilateral upper limb lymphedema after breast cancer treatment Although lymphedema volume increased transiently it remained stable over longterm followup with no local complications
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