Clinical Observation On The Treatment Of 54 Cases Of Upper Limb Lymphedema After Breast Cancer Operation By Blood Puncture And Cupping Method

Background:Breast cancer is a common malignant tumor for women.Its morbidity rate is gradually increasing,and surgery is the first choice of treatment.However,patients often suffer from upper extremity lymphedema post operation.It has a high morbidity rate,about 6%-62.5%.Patients who suffer from postoperative breast cancer induced upper extremity lymphedema often experience abnormal limb swelling,numbness,pain,repeated infections,limb dysfunction,etc.As soon as edema occurs,it is difficult to subside.Thus,patients suffer mentally and physically,greatly affecting the quality of life of patients.Objective:This study's purpose is to verify the efficacy and safety of bloodletting and cupping therapy to treat postoperative breast cancer induced upper extremity lymphedema.We observed 54 case patients with postoperative breast cancer induced upper extremity lymphedema and gave them bloodletting and cupping therapy.We measured their upper limb circumference from many different points,and evaluated their pain levels and(or)feeling of limb swelling.Methods:54 case patients with postoperative breast cancer induced upper extremity lymphedema were selected from the outpatient department.We searched for roughly 15 subcutaneous nodules or points of pain when pressed with a finger,and marked them.Then,we disinfected these points and another person used a disposable lancet to prick the area around a nodule 8 times.Immediately after,we selected a suitable glass cupping cup and cupped the pricked area.We did this for every marked point and left the cups on for 10 minutes.The patients received this treatment twice a week,every Wednesday and Saturday,for two weeks.During the course of treatment,we told the patients to not do any work or exert force with their arm suffering from lymphedema.Then,we observed the circumference of the patient's arms at the following points before and after treatment:circumference of the palm,wrist,7 cm below the elbow,elbow,10 cm above the elbow,and upper arm right below the armpit.We also took note of their lymphedema arm's pain level and(or)feeling of limb swellingResults:After using bloodletting and cupping therapy to treat postoperative breast cancer induced upper extremity lymphedema 4 times,we discovered that the circumference of the palm,wrist,7 cm below the elbow,elbow,10 cm above the elbow,and upper arm right below the armpit have decreased,P<0.001<0.05.The difference is statistically significant.Of the 54 patients,50 of them had different amounts of circumference decrease in different areas,with the total effectiveness of up to 92.59%.Patients with severe or medium amount of lymphedema had a total effectiveness of 71.42%,of which the palm circumference had 90%effectiveness,the wrist circumference had 91.49%effectiveness,the circumference 7 cm below the elbow had 88.89%effectiveness,the elbow circumference had 90.38%effectiveness,the circumference 10 cm above the elbow had 92.31%effectiveness,and the circumference of the upper arm below the armpit had 82.61%effectiveness.This shows that bloodletting and cupping therapy on a post operation lymphedema arm has good efficacy.It also works well on people suffering from medium to severe lymphedema.Before treatment,19 patients were associated with varying degrees of pain.After treatment,pain scores of patients were significantly decreased(P<0.05),and 13 of these patients had a pain score of 0.This shows that this therapy is also beneficial to relieving pain in lymphedema limbs.48 patients also had with varying degrees swelling sensations.We used a swelling sensation scoring method and classified them.After treatment,the swelling sensation for 9 patients disappeared,and another 16 patients' swelling sensation score were lowered to 1 or 2.Swelling sensation score were significantly decreased(P<0.05),thus it shows that this therapy is also beneficial to relieving swelling sensation in lymphedema limbs.After every treatment,there were no signs of infection,anemia or other symptoms.This treatment method is safe and reliable.We analyzed factors that may affect the circumference decrease for different parts of the affected limb.The results showed that age,time since surgery,time since lymphedema,level of swelling,and number of axillary lymph node metastasis had almost no effect on the decrease in circumference(P>0.05).This indicates that these factors do not affect the efficacy of bloodletting and cupping therapy on a post operation lymphedema limb.Conclusion:Bloodletting and cupping therapy on post breast surgery lymphedema limbs has good efficacy.It has significant effect for patients with different levels of swelling,and can decrease the patient's pain and(or)swelling sensation.It is simple,fast acting,and safe.It should be further promoted for research and use in clinical treatments.