Water Exercise Compared to Land Exercise or Standard Care in Female Cancer Survivors with Secondary Lymphedema.

There are few studies showing that physical exercise can improve secondary lymphedema. We hypothesized that water exercise would be more effective than land exercise in reducing limb volume. Secondary objectives were joint movement, BMI, daily function, well-being, and body image. Limb volume was measured with circumference or was volumetric. Well-being and body image were measured with a study-specific questionnaire and daily function with DASH and HOOS questionnaires. Eighty-eight eligible patients with secondary lymphedema after breast or gynecological cancer participated in this controlled clinical intervention study. There was a higher proportion of women who participated in water exercises who reduced their secondary arm limb volume (p = 0.029), and there were also significant differences for BMI (p = 0.047) and self-reported frequency of swelling (p = 0.031) in the water exercise group after intervention. Women with arm lymphedema in the land exercise group improved DASH scores (p = 0.047) and outer rotation in the shoulder (p = 0.001). Our results suggest that to reduce objective and self-reported swelling, lymphedema patients may be offered water exercise training while to improve daily shoulder function, land exercises are preferred. To guide female cancer survivors with lymphedema to effective exercise resulting in reduced limb volume and improved function, adequate evidenced-based programs are needed.