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Longitudinal effects of a novel advanced pneumatic compression device on patient‐reported outcomes in the management of cancer‐related head and neck lymphedema: A preliminary report
Author(s) -
Gutiérrez Carolina,
Mayrovitz Harvey N.,
Naqvi Syed Hassan Shiraz,
Karni Ron J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.26110
Subject(s) - medicine , head and neck cancer , lymphedema , wilcoxon signed rank test , randomized controlled trial , physical therapy , head and neck , patient satisfaction , cancer , radiation therapy , surgery , breast cancer , mann–whitney u test
Background Head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors experience head and neck lymphedema (HNL), which requires treatment to prevent morbidity. We explore the self‐reported outcomes and satisfaction of patients with HNC receiving treatment for HNL with an advanced pneumatic compression device (APCD). Methods HNC survivors (n = 205) prescribed with an at‐home Flexitouch head and neck APCD completed pretreatment and posttreatment self‐reported assessments addressing efficacy, function, and symptoms. Participant average age was 60 years with 74% male. Pre‐post responses for ≥25 days of use were assessed via the non‐parametric Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. Results Analysis revealed statistically significant improvement in all symptoms and all function items ( P < 0.00001). Compliance with prescribed therapy (at least 30 minutes daily) was high with 71% of participants reporting daily use and 87% reporting overall satisfaction. Conclusions The reported improvements in function and symptoms, and high compliance rate, provide a rationale for a subsequent randomized controlled trial.