Pasko, J.L., Garreau, J., Carl, A., Ansteth, M., Glissmeyer, M., & Johnson, N. (2015). Axillary reverse lymphatic mapping reduces patient perceived incidence of lymphedema after axillary dissection in breast cancer. American Journal of Surgery, 209, 890–895.
To retrospectively examine how axillary reverse lymphatic mapping (ARM) affects patients perceived incidence of lymphedema compared to patients who did not receive ARM
A retrospective review of 46 patients with breast cancer who had greater than 10 lymph nodes removed were recruited and surveyed to determine which patients identified as having lymphedema and whether they required treatment or therapy for it. Patients were also asked if they underwent the ARM procedure.
A survey was created and sent to all women who qualified for the study from the Community Hospital Tumor Registry in Portland, Oregon.
Twenty-two patients reported undergoing the ARM procedure compared to 24 patients who did not undergo the ARM procedure. Of the 22 who did, 39% reported having lymphedema compared with 50% of the non-ARM patients. Eighteen percent of the ARM group reported requiring a compression sleeve for treatment of lymphedema compared to 45.8% of women in the non-ARM group.
The incidence of patient perceptions of lymphedema and the use of compression sleeves were lower in the ARM group than in the non-ARM group.
The effect of using the ARM procedure to decrease lymphedema cannot be ascertained from this study.