Health Technology Assessment Short Report on Efficacy and Safety of Interventions to Treat Lymphedema

Abstract

Lymphedema is an accumulation of lymph and abnormal fibro-fatty tissue in the limbs. Its most common origin, in Argentina, is the treatment of breast cancer. Management includes multiple interventions, ranging from non-invasive therapies to specific surgical techniques. The objective of this report was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of interventions aimed at the management of lymphoedema by reviewing the available scientific evidence, in order to guide the decision making of coverage. A bibliographic search was carried out and the PRISMA comparison list was used for the evaluation of systematic reviews. In case of discrepancies, a third reviewer was consulted. 141 works were recovered through the different search strategies, 45 were evaluated by summary or full text. Finally, 10 systematic reviews were included. The evidence for the evaluated interventions was of low confidence, mainly due to the presence of studies with a small number of patients, comparators other than usual management, heterogeneity in the interventions and limited follow-up times.