Leduc O, Leduc A.
Rehabilitation protocol in upper limb lymphedema.
Ann Ital Chir 2002 Sep-Oct;73(5):479-84

University of Brussels.

Edema of the upper limb is, frequently, very invalidating. The physical treatment
for edema of the upper limb consists on a combination of different therapies:
manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), intermittent sequential pressotherapy (IPP) with a
very low intensity, multilayer bandages (MLB), and compression sleeves. Patients
are not hospitalized. In the first step of physical treatment, the patients are
treated daily during 2 or 3 weeks with different therapies (MLD, IPP and MLB).
During the second step, bandages are no more used. The compression garments are
applied after this 2 or 3 weeks period. The physical treatment consist now in:
manual lynphatic drainage and intermittent sequential pressotherapy (with low
intensity). The frequency of the physical treatment is progressively decreased.