Safety of Kinesio® Taping use in patients with secondary lymphedema after breast cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Kinesio® Taping has been employed in lymphedema treatment as a new proposal for limb volume control and reduction. Objective: Assess the safety of Kinesio® Tex Gold tape use in women with secondary lymphedema after breast cancer treatment. Methods: Study before and after intervention in women diagnosed with lymphedema at the Hospital de Cancer III (HCIII/INCA). Kinesio® Tex Gold FP bandage was applied to the women by the Kinesio® taping technique. Assessments and interviews were carried out at the beginning and four days after intervention, at the time of bandage removal. Skin disorders, reported tolerance and modification of limb volume and function after intervention were assessed. A descriptive analysis of the variables selected and major outcomes was performed by measuring central tendency, dispersion and frequency distribution. Changes in limb volume and functionality pre- and post-intervention were compared by the Student t test, considering significant p value <0.05, and the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. The SPSS program, version 20 was used for data statistical analysis. Results: Twenty-four women were studied. After intervention, no patient had cutaneous lesions, blister or limb hyperthermia, 4.2% presented skin peeling and 4.2% redness. Skin detachment on the extremities was reported in 75% cases, but 95.8% did not present total detachment. Most patients reported no change in social life and that they felt safer in the ADLs and were very pleased with the treatment. The patients presented improvement of upper limb functionality after intervention (p<0.001). No difference of limb volume was found after intervention (p=0.639). Conclusion: The application of kinesio® Tex Gold bandage by kinesio® taping technique proved to be safe in patients with lymphedema, with improved functionality and no change of the affected limb volume.