Avaliação da sensibilidade de membros superiores em pacientes com linfedema pós mastectomia radical Evaluation of upper limb sensitivity in patients with lymphedema after radical mastectomy

The objective of this work was to evaluate the sensitivity of upper limbs with lymphoedema after radical mastectomy. Nine patients were evaluated, whose mean age was 60.7 years, to verify the presence of sensitivity difference between the limb with lymphedema and the control limb. For the sensitivity test, a six-monofilament Semmens-Weinstes “sensi kit” (pocket model) was used. The tested areas were those that corresponded to the dermatomes connected to the distribution of the ulnar, medianus and radialis nerves. Our results showed that the elapsed time since the surgery was on average 8.9 years and that the onset of lymphedema occurred on average 5.5 years after the surgery. Statistical analysis was non-parametrical and used Fisher’s Test for small samples of the observed frequencies. For each tested side it was evidenced that the frequency of patients who presented sensitivity in the affected side was significantly smaller (0.0045; p>0.005) than the one observed in the control side, when Point 1, green color, was tested; there were no statistically significant differences between the evaluated sides in the remaining tested points and colors; regarding the incapacity degree, according to the Health Ministry, there were no significant differences between the affected and control sides in any of the seven tested points.