Table 3.
Frequency of Measured Lymphedema Among Patients Undergoing SLNB Alone or SLNB/ALND
| Lymphedema | SLNB Alone (n = 600)
|
SLNB/ALND (n = 336)
|
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lymphedema*
|
Severe Lymphedema†
|
Lymphedema*
|
Severe Lymphedema†
|
|||||
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| Frequency in either upper or lower arm | 31 | 5.2 | 3 | 0.5 | 55 | 16.4 | 10 | 3.0 |
| Upper arm only | 24 | 4.0 | 3 | 0.5 | 22 | 6.5 | 5 | 1.5 |
| Forearm only | 3 | 0.5 | 0 | — | 18 | 5.4 | 3 | 0.9 |
| Both upper and lower arm | 4 | 0.7 | 0 | — | 15 | 4.5 | 2 | 0.6 |
NOTE. L = (If/u − Ib) –(Cf/u − Cb), where I indicates ipsilateral upper-extremity circumference, C indicates contralateral upper-extremity circumference, f/u indicates follow-up, and b indicates baseline.
Abbreviations: SLNB, sentinel lymph node biopsy; ALND, axillary lymph node dissection.
*
L > 2 cm.
†
L > 5 cm.