Effectiveness of fluoroscopy-guided manual lymph drainage for the treatment of breast-cancer-related lymphoedema

Although each patient with breast cancer-related lymphoema is treated through manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), there are doubts about the effectiveness of this treatment. This may be due to the fact that the classic MLD is applied to all lymph nodes present and lymph vessels. However, after the axillary dissection and/or radiotherapy, the lymphatic system is damaged and reorganization of the lymphatic system occurs. This reorganization is patient-specific. Through lymphofluoroscopy, the lymphatic range can be visualized, allowing customized manipulations to be adapted to drain the lymphatic fluid to functional lymph vessels.

The overall goal of this project is to investigate the effectiveness of fluoroscopy-directed MLD vs traditional MLD vs placebo MLD for treatment of breast cancer-related lymphoedema. Therefore, a multicentric double blind randomized controlled clinical trial will be performed. The primary endpoints are the change of lymphoema volume at the level of hand, arm, shoulder and chest and the change of functioning problems due to the lymphedema.