Assessment of postural disorders in women after radical mastectomy followed by immediate breast reconstruction

• Published in: Fizjoterapia 2009-01, Vol.17 (1), p.30
• Main Authors: Bak, Malgorzata, Ciesla, Slawomir
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; pol
• ISSN: 1230-8323; 2544-4395
• DOI: 10.2478/v10109-009-0039-2

Assessment of postural disorders in women after radical mastectomy followed by immediate breast reconstruction Surgical treatment of breast cancer aims at minimizing of post-operative trauma, while maintaining full oncological effectiveness at the same time. Despite that, women operated due to breast cancer often suffer from postural disorders. In Poland, in the cases, when radical mastectomy is required, the operation is often followed by immediate breast reconstruction using Becker permanent expander prosthesis. The aims of this study are the assessment of postural disorders in women after mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction using Becker-25 prosthesis and comparison of the research group with other women after mastectomy. The research was conducted on 80 women - 40 women were subjected to radical mastectomy and breast reconstruction and the other 40 women underwent radical mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction using Becker-25 prosthesis. The control group consisted of 40 women, who had not been treated due to breast cancer. Posture was assessed by means of computerized photogrammetry. In women after mastectomy, posture was evaluated 6 months after the surgery. Larger postural disorders in the frontal plane were observed in women who had been subjected to mastectomy and breast reconstruction. Those changes concerned the placement of shoulder blades, shoulders, pelvis, waist triangles height, trunk inclination and deviation of the spinous process line from the vertical axis of the body. Those differences (apart from the waist triangles height) turned out to be statistically significant. Women after mastectomy tended more to lean forward in comparison to women with Becker-25 prosthesis. There were no significant differences of the analysed parameters between women after breast reconstruction and the healthy women, apart from the pelvis inclination angle. Findings allow one to state that the applied immediate breast reconstruction helps reduce the negative postural changes in women operated for breast cancer.