Complex view on the problematics of the secondary lymphedema following mamma surgery

The lymphedema is a chronic progressive disease connected with a great amount of complications of various severity. The secondary lymphedema occuring after a mamma ablation is one of the most frequent complication during the treatment of malign diseases of the mamma and it influences greatly the everyday activities of the patients. My intention was to describe the theme in its complexity and to depict the lymphedema in a bio- psycho- social context. The chapters of this work deal with the anatomy, physiology and patophysiology of the lymphatic system, the stages, complications and methods of assessing the lymphedema. Further chapters are addicted to possibilities of the treatment of the lymphedema. Emphasis is put on the physiotherapeutic methods, some of which are recently widely acknowledged and some of which are considered complementary, or there is still a necessity to verify their effectivity. I also described a pharmacological and surgery treatment of the lymphedema. In the work there are also mentioned psycho- social aspects of the secondary lymphedema. Keywords lymphatic system, secondary lymphedema after breast surgery, lymphedema therapy, physiotherapy, diagnostic, psychosocial aspect