Background: This functional usability study assessed ease of use, fit, comfort, and potential clinical benefits of advanced pneumatic compression treatment of cancer-related head and neck lymphedema.
Methods: Patient-reported comfort and other treatment aspects were evaluated and multiple face and neck measurements were obtained on 44 patients with head and neck lymphedema before and after 1 treatment session to assess usability and treatment-related lymphedema changes.
Results: A majority of the patients (82%) reported the treatment was comfortable; most patients (61%) reported feeling better after treatment, and 93% reported that they would be likely to use this therapy at home. One treatment produced overall small but highly statistically significant reductions in composite metrics (mean ± SD) of the face (82.5 ± 4.3 cm vs 80.9 ± 4.1 cm; P < .001) and neck (120.4 ± 12.2 cm vs 119.2 ± 12.1 cm; P < .001) with no adverse events.
Conclusion: Results found the treatment to be safe, easy to use, and well tolerated while demonstrating edema reduction after a single initial treatment.
Keywords: head and neck cancer; head and neck lymphedema; manual lymph drainage; pneumatic compression.
© 2017 The Authors Head & Neck Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.