Lymphedema and Air Travel After Breast Cancer Surgery

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality globally, and its incidence is increasing day by day. Many personalized local/systemic applications are used for breast cancer treatment. Lymphedema is the most frequently seen chronic complication of breast cancer treatment. It causes certain functional and/or psychological problems by affecting the life quality of individuals in a negative manner. Consequently, breast cancer treatment causes lifestyle changes in individuals, and it leads to several preventive measures and practices. One of the issues of concern at this point is to know the negative effects of air travel on lymphedema development after breast cancer surgery. In particular, it is widely believed that air travel after breast cancer and its treatment exacerbates lymphedema. It is clear that the development of lymphedema due to breast cancer and its treatment affects the daily and social lives of individuals today when air transportation has become popular. The risk of developing lymphedema after air travel has pushed patients to use some behavioral methods. Some of these behavioral measures were the use of recommended compression devices, delay of travel and changes in travel time or methods. However, there are conflicting results in the limited number of studies conducted on the subject in the literature, and the information needs of both clinicians and patients should be met. This review was written to examine the literature on the effect of air travel on the development of breast cancer and post-surgical lymphedema, and to evaluate its results.

Keywords

• Breast cancer
• surgery
• lymphedema
• aircraft
• travel
• nursing

Meme Kanseri Cerrahisi Sonrası Lenfödem ve Uçak Seyahati

Abstract

Meme kanseri, küresel düzeyde önemli morbidite ve mortalite nedenlerinden biridir ve her geçen gün insidansı giderek artmaktadır. Meme kanseri tedavisine yönelik kişiye özgü, lokal/sistemik birçok uygulama kullanılmaktadır. Lenfödem, meme kanseri tedavisinin en yaygın görülen kronik komplikasyonudur. Bireylerin yaşam kalitesini olumsuz yönde etkileyerek fiziksel ve/ veya psikolojik birtakım sorunlara yol açmaktadır. Dolayısıyla meme kanseri tedavisi bireylerde yaşam tarzı değişikliklerine neden olmakta, birtakım önleyici tedbir ve uygulamaları da beraberinde getirmektedir. Bu noktada endişe duyulan konulardan biri, uçakla seyahatin meme kanseri cerrahisi sonrası lenfödem gelişimi üzerindeki negatif etkilerinin bilinmesidir. Özellikle meme kanseri ve tedavisi sonrası uçak seyahatinin lenfödem tablosunu şiddetlendirdiği görüşü yaygındır. Hava yolu ulaşımının popüler hale geldiği günümüzde, meme kanseri ve tedavisi nedenli lenfödem gelişiminin, bireylerin günlük ve sosyal yaşamlarını etkilediği açıktır. Hava yolu seyahati sonrası lenfödem gelişme riski, hastaları birtakım davranışsal yöntemleri kullanmaya itmiştir. Bu davranışsal önlemlerin bir kısmı, önerilen kompresyon cihazların kullanımı, seyahatlerin ertelenmesi ve seyahat süre ya da yöntemlerinde değişiklikler yapılması şeklinde olmuştur. Ancak literatürde konuya ilişkin yapılan sınırlı sayıdaki çalışmada çelişkili sonuçlar yer almaktadır ve bu konuda hem klinisyenlerin hem de hastaların bilgi gereksinimlerinin giderilmesi gerekmektedir. Bu derleme, uçak seyahatinin, meme kanseri ve cerrahisi sonrası lenfödem gelişimi üzerindeki etkisine ilişkin literatürün incelenmesi ve sonuçlarının değerlendirilmesi amacıyla yazılmıştır. 

Keywords

• Meme kanseri
• cerrahi
• lenfödem
• uçak
• seyahat
• hemşirelik

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