Description of the effect of exercises with virtual reality on the ipsilateral upper limb in women after mastectomy

Objective: To describe the effect of early physical therapy on pain and upper limb function in mastectomy patients, using virtual reality exercises. Method: Descriptive study, conducted on women with unilateral mastectomy with no shoulder diseases (n = 77; 41 in study group, 36 in control group), grouped according to the type of mastectomy: partial with sentinel lymph node, partial with axillary clearance, and modified radical mastectomy. On the 7th day post-surgery, a physiotherapy protocol with virtual reality exercises (Wii (TM) console) was started. Patients were assessed for pain using a visual analoguescale and degree of function of the upper limb ipsilateral to the mastectomy (QuickDASH). Measurements were performed prior to surgery (pre-operatively-day 0), and on days 7 and 30 post-surgery, being the period during which the protocol was applied in the study group. Statistical analysis is descriptive and the results are presented as means and standard error. Results: The three groups of mastectomy patients who underwent early physical rehabilitationwith virtual reality (Wii (TM) console) had reduced pain, and in the control group, MPGC and modified radical mastectomy patients their pain increased. In the study group, ipsilateral to mastectomy upper limb function was increased, especially in the modified radical mastectomy group, whereas in the control group, functionality was only slightly increased. Conclusions: Mastectomy patients who undergo early physical rehabilitation with virtual reality have their pain reduced and the ipsilateral to mastectomy upper limb function increased. (C) 2015 Sociedad Mexicana de Oncologia. Published by Masson Doyma Mexico S.A. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license