• Pascale Mutti Tacani, Juliana Pereira Franceschini, Rogério Eduardo Tacani, Aline Fernanda Perez Machado, Débora Montezello, João Carlos Guedes Sampaio Góes, and Angela Marx.
• Physical Therapy Department, Brazilian Institute of Cancer Control (IBCC), São Paulo, Brazil.
• Head Neck. 2016 Feb 1; 38 (2): 301-8.

BackgroundSecondary lymphedema after head and neck cancer treatment is a serious complication and its management can be a challenge. The purpose of this study was to verify which physical therapy modalities were applied in the treatment of head and neck lymphedema through a retrospective analysis.MethodsA retrospective study was developed, based on the analysis of medical records of 32 patients treated in the physiotherapy outpatient department of the Brazilian Institute of Cancer Control (IBCC).ResultsThe physiotherapy included manual lymphatic drainage, massage, exercises, patient education, and compression therapy with an average of 23.9 ± 14.8 sessions. Measurement results showed a significant reduction of face and neck lymphedema (p < .05) and pain (from 7.8 ± 2.2 to 3.6 ± 1.6; p < .001).ConclusionThe physical therapy modalities based on strategic manual lymphatic drainage, shoulder girdle massage, facial, tongue and neck exercises, compressive therapy at home, and patient education showed reduction of the lymphedema and pain, both of them secondary to head and neck cancer treatment.© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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