Effect of Early Physical Therapy of the Upper Arm on Recovery Post-operative Mastectomy Patients in Medan City Hospital, Indonesia

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess upper ipsilateral limb function clinically as well as the effects of specific post-surgical complications that arise following mastectomy by either intervening with an early rehabilitation program or not. To look at the physical morbidity following surgery and sentinel lymph node dissection (SLND/axillary lymph node dissection, ALND). METHODOLOGY: This study used samples of 40 post-operative mastectomies, with 20 in each Group taken using a non-probability consecutive sampling technique. The data were gathered using an observational sheet on physical therapy; bivariate analysis was used, and the Whitney test was used to analyze the upper arm condition in the control and intervention groups pre- and post-early physical therapy intervention. RESULT: This study showed the influence of early physical therapy of the upper arm on recovery postoperative mastectomy patients at p-value = 0.000 (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: Multifactorial physical therapy (i.e. stretching, exercises) and active exercises were practical to treat post-operative pain and impaired ROM after treatment for breast cancer, so early physical therapy can improve function disabilities without causing post-operative complications. It is concluded that early physical therapy intervention following a mastectomy can reduce the adverse effects of the procedure, including shoulder immobility recovery. Patients with breast cancer should be advised to undergo early rehabilitation following a mastectomy, thereby decreasing their length of immobilization.

Keywords

• physical therapy
• upper arm
• post-operative