J Appl Biomed 4:179-185, 2006 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2006.020

A method for the detection of post-operative lymphoedema after operation for breast cancer: multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis

Michael J. Halaška^1,*, Viktor Komárek², Ivana Malá³, Jiří Chod¹, Pavel Strnad¹, Jan Novotný⁴, Hana Stankusová⁵, Dušan Kolařík⁶, Dana Marešová⁷

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2nd Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague

² Department of Biophysics and Informatics, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague

³ University of Economics in Prague

⁴ Department of Oncology, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague

⁵ Department of Oncology, 2nd Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague

⁶ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague

⁷ Department of Physiology, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague

Lymphoedema, a pathological accumulation of extracellular water (ECW), is a severe post-operative complication. Multifrequency bioimpedance analysis (MFBIA) is a method for the detection of changes in ECW. Our aim is to establish the methodology of MFBIA and to apply it on to group of patients undergoing breast cancer surgery.
We measured a control group of 60 women, another group of 5 women with pronounced lymphoedema and a group of 36 patients undergoing breast cancer surgery during a 9-month period after surgery using MFBIA and circumferential measurements for recording volume changes in the upper limb. Different linear extrapolations from 1, 5, 50, 100, 200 kHz were determined to find resistance at 0 Hz for each patient; ratios of R₀ were evaluated for non-dominant/dominant and non-operated/operated limbs. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to compare the correlation between the results and patient characteristics.
Extrapolation using 5, 50, 100 kHz had the lowest standard deviation. Within the patients with pronounced lymphoedema, bigger differences were found by MFBIA as compared with circumference measurements. A stronger correlation between limb volumes calculated from circumference measurements with weight and BMI as compared with MFBIA was found. Lymphoedema was found in 14 women in the tested group. The best association between patients' subjective symptoms was with the MFBIA measurement.

Keywords: lymphoedema; post-operative complication; multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis; breast cancer

Received: February 6, 2006; Revised: June 1, 2006; Published: July 31, 2006  Show citation