Article

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) in
improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL), symptomatology, and physical
status in patients with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). DESIGN: Single-blind
randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Health community attendant service.
PARTICIPANTS: Subjects with CVI (N=41) were randomly assigned to an experimental
group (n=20; mean age, 54.6+/-11.3y) or control group (n=21; mean age,
46.8+/-11.1y). INTERVENTIONS: The experimental group completed 10 lower extremity
MLD sessions over 4 weeks and 1 educational session. The control group only
attended the educational session. Outcome measures were taken at baseline (t0),
at the end of 4 weeks (t1), and after 2 months for follow-up (t2). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: HRQOL was assessed with the Chronic Venous Insufficiency Quality of
Life Questionnaire-20, symptoms (fatigue, heaviness) were assessed with a visual
analog scale, severity of the disease was assessed with the Venous Clinical
Severity Score (VCSS) (total score, score for each item), leg volumetry was
assessed with perimeters, and plantar/dorsiflexion strength and ankle range of
motion (ROM) were assessed with dynamometry. RESULTS:
A significant interaction
groupxtime effect was found for pain on HRQOL (F2,78=3.507; P=.035; partial
eta2=.087), clinical severity (F2,78=5.231; P=.007; partial eta2=.118),
especially for venous edema (assessed with the VCSS), fatigue (F1.67,65.21=4.690;
P=.012; partial eta2=.107), and heaviness (F1.57,61.32=9.702; P=.001; partial
eta2=.199), with the experimental group improving from t0 to t1 and t0 to t2 in
all of these outcomes. No effect of MLD treatment could be found for ankle muscle
strength, ankle ROM, and leg volume. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term MLD treatment
ameliorates CVI severity and related edema, symptoms, and pain HRQOL in patients
with CVI.
CI - Copyright (c) 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS