Early rehabilitation of head-neck edema after curative surgery for orofacial tumors.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate a rehabilitative program for postoperative head-neck edema.


METHODS
Eleven patients completed the study. A series of ten manual lymphatic drainage were initiated and completed early after surgery. On discharge from the hospital, the patients wore "made-to-measure" or customized compression garments for the next several weeks. Tape measurements and sonographic evaluation of the soft-tissue width were used to quantify the extent of the swelling.


RESULTS
After 6 wk of therapy, the patients exhibited a statistically significant (P < 0.05; Wilcoxon's test) remission; the remission continued in eight patients who were measured at 12+/-3 wk.


CONCLUSIONS
This initial trial demonstrates that sequential therapy of manual lymphatic drainage and compression garments can significantly reduce early postoperative edema after curative surgery for orofacial tumors. The outcome can be quantified by comparing the course of distances between the defined anatomic marks and by sonographic evaluation of soft-tissue width. This pilot study encourages that more controlled, randomized studies, with larger numbers of patients, be conducted to verify these results.
Department of Physical Medicine, Medical School Hannover, Germany.
D U
DU
Piso
A
A
Eckardt
A
A
Liebermann
C
C
Gutenbrunner
P
P
Schäfer
A
A
Gehrke
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D001458:Bandages; D004322:Drainage; D005153:Facial Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008209:Lymphedema / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008397:Masks; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014463:Ultrasonography