Lymphostasis of the breast

If in the process of failure in the functioning of the lymph flow appears edema, doctors diagnose lymphostasis of the mammary gland, that is, a difficult outflow of lymph from the area of the breast.

Particularly severe manifestations of this disease in the people are characterized as elephantiasis.

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]

Causes of the lymphostasis of the breast

As a rule, one of the problems overtaking a patient who has been diagnosed with breast cancer is lymphosage. This pathology arises from a disturbance in the natural selection from the tissue intercellular space of the lymphatic fluid. Physicians established two types of pathology: acquired and congenital. In this case the causes of lymphostasis of the breast are different.

• Any injury, both mechanical (bruise, fracture), and thermal character (burns) can become a catalyst for the progression of the disease.
• Postoperative complications.
• The cause of lymphostasis of the breast can become a parasitic infection.
• To develop pathology is possible against the background of diseases of the cardiovascular system and dysfunction of the kidneys.
• Various chronic diseases.
• Due to the treatment of malignant neoplasms through radiation therapy.
• The reason that pushed the body to failure, it is quite possible to become and overweight, sedentary lifestyle.
• If a woman has visited the countries of the tropics, she can catch lymphatic filariasis, the mosquitoes are the carriers of the infection.
• Malnutrition and stressful situations.
• Erysipelas.

[9], [10], [11], [12]

Symptoms of the lymphostasis of the breast

This pathology is sufficiently visualized, and it is not very difficult to suspect its presence, since the symptoms of lymphostasis of the mammary gland are quite obvious.

• Gradually, the edema of the upper limb, which is located on the part of the pathological site, is increasing.
• There is a failure in the nutrition of the epidermis, as a result of which trophic ulcers of the skin can appear.
• Impaired lymph drainage can lead to impairment of working capacity, both physical and mental.
• There may be headaches, a feeling of heaviness.
• Aching in joints, especially large ones.
• There are problems with appetite. At the same time, a predisposition to evening overeating may develop.
• There are malfunctions in the digestive tract.
• The desire to expect mucus to grow faster.
• There is a chill.
• There is a slowdown in metabolic processes in the body of the patient, which is fraught with obesity, a malfunction in the work of the thyroid (goiter), the appearance of diabetes mellitus. This pathology can provoke development and neoplasms.
• Violated microcirculation of lymph, which leads to fibrosis (pathological densification), as well as trophic ulcers.

Forms

Lymphostasis in breast cancer

A malignant tumor that affects the breast of a woman almost unequivocally requires surgical intervention, with the doctor not only cutting the neoplasm, but, in order to avoid further relapses and metastasis, it removes nearby tissues along with the nearby lymph nodes. Hence, lymphostasis for breast cancer is more a regularity than a rare exception. After all, after the removal of lymph nodes there is a completely expected failure in the lymph flow. About 90% of the patients who underwent this operation, observed lymphostasis during the first month after the radical therapy, and only the remaining ten percent was lucky to avoid it.

At an early stage of the pathology, puffiness is insignificant and does not take out so much of its mistress. Therefore, a woman rarely goes to see a doctor, for which she can later pay with her health. Often, such a hitch in diagnosis and treatment can lead to disability, and in especially severe cases and to death. The more severe stage of the disease of lymphostasis of the breast is due to the manifestation of elephantiasis of the extremities - this is the transition to the chronic stage of the disease. At this stage, the body's immune defenses are falling, making its mistress more susceptible to infectious diseases, and the patient's psyche is also disturbed. At the same time, there is tension in the skin, which causes the appearance of pain.

[13], [14]

Lymphostasis after removal of the breast

Mastectomy is a radical method of arresting the problem of malignant neoplasms, which is caused by surgical excision of the pathological mammary gland. After the operation, complications often occur. One of the most common abnormalities is swelling of the upper limb, which is located on the side of the operation being performed. The cause of this complication is lymphostasis after removal of the breast.

Early postmastectomy edema, physicians observed immediately after the operation. The reason for its appearance lies in the complications that occurred immediately after surgery. For example, it can be lymphorrhea - this is when, due to surgery, the lymph node has been damaged, and lymph has entered the interstitial space.

Late postmastectomy edema, mainly due to malfunctions of lymph flow, which occurred in the subclavian or axillary veins. In this case, the risk of skin damage with erysipelas, the formation of trophic ulcers and swelling, which leads the finiteness to elephantiasis, is rapidly increasing. There is almost a direct relationship between the onset and progression of lymphostasis after removal of the mammary gland from the amount of lymphatic system that underwent lymphadenectomy. The more such a volume, the higher the likelihood of complications. But there is no direct pattern between the amount of resected material and the volume of lymphostasis.

Diagnostics of the lymphostasis of the breast

A fairly large percentage of women who have had to deal with this problem, especially it is great in the case when the fair sex had to undergo a mastectomy. After such an operation, up to 90% of patients face this complication. Therefore, early diagnosis of breast lymphostasis is one of the most important factors that are guaranteed to lead to an excellent prognosis of health for the future.

• Primarily, the specialist conducts a questioning of the patient, trying to create a complete picture of the pathology.
• The second stage, he performs an examination of puffiness.
• Carries out a pulse diagnosis - a simple enough, but nevertheless very informative method of diagnosis, which allows a qualified physician to determine the pathology by the patient's pulse.
• Biochemical and clinical studies of the patient's blood are prescribed.
• Ultrasound (ultrasound) of the venous limb system.
• Radiography of the chest.
• Lymphography is a technique for diagnosing the state of the human lymphatic system with the help of a contrast agent and an X-ray apparatus.

[15], [16], [17], [18]

Treatment of the lymphostasis of the breast

Modern medicine practices complex treatment of lymphostasis of the breast, which is quite long, so a woman will have to have patience, passing this difficult path. Physicians in this case are inclined to carry out compression therapy, since surgical intervention, in this situation is not effective. After all, lymphostasis of the breast is a consequence, not a cause of pathology. Having removed it, the problem can not be solved, it is necessary to adequately influence the root cause. Therefore, doctors practice:

• Bandage of the upper limb.
• Assign the patient the use of special compression underwear, knitwear.
• The doctor can prescribe a patient manual massage, drainage lymph flow. Lymphatic drainage is a technique for removing stagnant fluid, in this case lymph, from the intercellular space of the human body.
• Use hardware variable pneumocompression, which is a medical device consisting of a pump and special inflatable arms, boots and gloves. Such equipment is used to activate venous circulation in the limbs of patients.
• Laser therapy - the use of light energy laser radiation, affecting the pathological zones, with the aim of arresting the disease.
• Magnetic therapy is a natural biological method based on the properties of magnets that can reduce pain and activate wound healing processes.
• Acupuncture - the impact on certain biologically active points with special needles.
• Hirudotherapy (use in the treatment of leeches) perfectly proved itself not only on the rheology of blood properties and the strengthening of the walls of blood vessels. It effectively works to restore the elasticity and elasticity of the vessels of the lymphatic system, activates the outflow of lymph, normalizing its course.

Other therapeutic methods are also used, but they all have their poles and minuses and can not unambiguously guarantee a favorable outcome. There is also no effective pharmacological agent capable of providing complete recovery for lymphostasis of the breast.

• The doctor adjusts the nutrition of the patient.
• Gives advice on the way of life.
• It is agreed to avoid various stressful situations.
• It combines phytotherapy, drugs that support the digestive, immune, lymphatic system.

Sambro-5, in general, is prescribed to support digestion. Tablets (three pieces together) in a dosage of 500 mg are drunk in the morning, washed down with hot water.

Ulchu-18 is a Tibetan herb collection that works to activate blood and lymph flow, purify the blood and lymphatic systems. The drug is taken at the prescription of the doctor in the amount of two to three grams, taken on an empty stomach together with wine, vodka or boiled water.

To relieve swelling, the doctor can prescribe diuretics, both medicamental, and herbal preparations taken in alternative medicine.

Hypothiazide is an active diuretic. The drug is used inside before meals at a dosage of 25 - 50 mg daily. In the case of a severe clinical picture, the amount of the drug can be increased and brought to 200 mg daily. Duration of admission is from three to seven days. If necessary, the attending physician may appoint a repeated treatment course in three to four days.

It is not recommended to attribute hypothiazide to patients suffering from severe form of kidney failure, as well as if there is gout or diabetes.

Apo-Hydro. Depending on the severity of the disease and the effectiveness of the patient's reaction to this drug, apo-hydro is taken once a day (in the morning), or twice in the morning. In this case, the daily dosage is from 0.025 to 1 gram of the preparation. Duration of admission - from three to five days. When medically necessary, the course of taking the medication can be repeated after three to four days.

Contraindications to the use of the drug: hypersensitivity to the components of the drug, gout, kidney disease, epilepsy, diabetes, pregnancy and breastfeeding.

As a diuretic, decoctions from such herbs as parsley, fennel, honeysuckle, eggplant, burdock root, nettle, goldenrod, horsetail, oats, and also a variety of other herbs and collections of them are perfect as diuretics.

Prevention

The basic principle on which prevention of lymphostasis of the breast is based is anti-edematous therapy. Her demands are:

• In the postoperative period, the load on the hands should be reduced: in the first year after excision, the weight should not exceed one kilogram, the next four years - the maximum load should not exceed two kilograms, and further - up to four kilograms.
• Try to protect as much as possible the affected shoulder and upper limb from tension.
• Minimize the duration of the work done by the hands, run down, or when the body is in the tilt position for a long time.
• Clothes should be free and comfortable. It is necessary to avoid dense things that tighten and squeeze the chest, shoulder and upper limb.
• Do not allow excessive overheating of the affected area and the hand as a whole.
• Avoid any physical damage: trauma, burns, cuts, punctures. Since with reduced immunity the probability of infection is high.
• Try to control the pose in which the patient rests: it is advisable to sleep on the back or side of the healthy breast.
• Necessary injections and other medical manipulations should be done only in a healthy hand.
• If a woman notices changes in the shade of the skin, changes in temperature or begins to feel pain, she should immediately seek advice from her doctor.
• The doctor can recommend a special set of exercises that will help to partially or completely cope with the problem.

There are several such preventive complexes, one of them is proposed below. All exercises should be done without too much stress, doing from four to ten approaches. If the patient felt that during the implementation of the treatment complex discomfort and unpleasant sensations appeared, the exercise should be stopped and go to the next stage or slightly rest, continue the interrupted.

• It is convenient to sit down and put your hands on your knees. We begin to rotate the hands in the radiocarpal joint, while we try not to strain the phalanx.
• The initial position of this exercise is similar to the first. We begin to squeeze and unclench the phalanx of the fingers in the fist and back.
• We fix the left palm on the left shoulder, and the right one on the right. Gently raise your elbows in front of you and just as slowly lower them.
• Become by placing your feet slightly wider than your shoulders. Body body tilted toward the pathological area. The "sick" arm should hang freely. We smoothly rock her back and forth.
• "Sick" hand raise up and lock in this position for five to ten seconds. If the exercise is given with difficulty, at first you can help a little with a healthy hand.
• On inspiration, lift the upper limb (from the operated side) in front of you until the arm is parallel to the floor. Hold your breath, move it to the side, only then lower it down, exhaling.
• We will concentrate our attention on the shoulder joints. We begin the smooth rotation of the primary forward, then back.
• Fix your hands in the lock, taking them behind your back and maximally straightening at the elbow joint. It is necessary to try to raise straight hands, taking off the shoulder blades. Return to the starting position.

[19], [20], [21]

Forecast

The effectiveness of the treatment is largely dependent on the clinical picture, the degree of severity of the pathology, the patient's age, the general state of her health. Therefore, the prognosis of lymphostasis of the breast is all the more favorable, the easier the pathology itself, as well as the timing of the patient's treatment for consulting a doctor. The earlier a woman is diagnosed with a disease - lymphostasis of the breast, the sooner treatment therapy is started, the more rapid and favorable the result is for a woman in the future. Do not forget that this disease is classified as a chronic progressive pathology. And if in time not to take adequate measures to stop it, complications will only worsen, moving from one phase to another, a more difficult stage. If you seize lymphostasis at the stage of nucleation, and carry out the necessary therapy, the probability of long-term remission and a progressive decrease in edema is likely.

To date, breast cancer in women, as unfortunate as it sounds, has taken a strong first place among this pathology of different localization. And the majority of patients who have undergone surgery are more or less exposed to such a postoperative complication as breast lymphostasis. This is not insured by any woman, but only on it depends on how soon a correct diagnosis will be made and adequate measures taken to promptly cure this problem. It should be remembered that it is not possible to completely cure this disease, but it is quite possible to drive it into a long-term remission. For this it is necessary to be just a little more attentive to yourself and your health, and at the first signs of complication, immediately seek help from a specialist. Do not forget that breast lymphostasis can manifest itself even a few years after the surgery, so the vigilance should not be weakened in the future.

[22], [23]