Comparison of the short-term effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and complex decongestive therapy on breast cancer-related lymphedema: A pilot study

Although there have been some reports that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is effective in treating breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL), controversy regarding its therapeutic effects remains. We sought to evaluate the efficacy of HBOT in addition to conventional complex decongestive therapy (CDT) for BCRL. A prospective observational study was conducted on 10 patients with BCRL. After screening, the subjects were stratified into a CDT-only group and a CDT and HBOT combination (CDT–HBOT) group. All patients received a total of 10 treatments over 2 weeks. Changes in the circumference of the upper limbs, quality-of-life questionnaire results, and bioelectrical impedance values were compared between the 2 groups. Between both groups, there were no significant differences in demographic or clinical characteristics and in the quality-of-life outcomes for lymphedema of the limbs. The parameters measured by bioimpedance spectroscopy showed more significant improvements in the CDT–HBOT group than in the CDT-only group. In patients with BCRL, HBOT may be recommended as an adjunct treatment to the existing therapies.