Clinical trial · Interventional
Does Inclusion of Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises in Complete Decongestive Therapy Provide Further Benefits in Patients With Breast Cancer Related Lymphedema
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Complete decongestive therapy is proven to be effective in reducing lymphedema related symptoms such as swelling and pain. Breathing exercises, on the other hand, may also help managing lymphedema symptoms. Deep breathing creates a pressure change in the abdomen, which creates a vacuum effect in the thoracic cavity and helps to empty the lymphatic vessels. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether addition of diaphragmatic breathing exercises to physical exercise component of complete decongestive therapy provides further benefits on lymphedema volume, pain and quality of life in patients with breast cancer related lymphedema.
Conditions
Conditions (2)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lymphedema, Breast Cancer | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Lymphedema of Upper Limb | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete Decongestive Therapy | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Upper extremity exercises combined with diaphragmatic breathing exercises | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Control Group
- description
- Patients in this group will receive "Complete Decongestive Therapy" for 6 weeks. 1 session each week will be supervised in a clinic. Rest of the sessions will be performed at home.
- interventionNames
- Other: Complete Decongestive Therapy
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Study Group
- description
- Patients in this group will receive "Complete Decongestive Therapy" combined with diaphragmatic breathing exercises for 6 weeks. 1 session each week will be supervised in a clinic. Rest of the sessions will be performed at home.
- interventionNames
- Other: Complete Decongestive Therapy
- Other: Upper extremity exercises combined with diaphragmatic breathing exercises
Primary outcomes (1)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- Female
- Minimum age
- 25 Years
- Maximum age
- 65 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Diagnosis of arm lymphedema after being treated for unilateral breast cancer with axillary node dissection * Completion of the treatments for the disease including chemotherapy and radiotherapy after breast surgery Exclusion Criteria: * Having recurrent cancer * Having cognitive disability * Having any concurrent diseases that may interfere with the measurement of lymphedema
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available