Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study participants.
| Variables | All cases in study | Rehabilitation group (SD) | MLD group (SD) | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | 39 | 20 | 19 | |
| Age (yr) | 55.5 (11) | 52.2 (9.8) | 59 (11.3) | .99 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 24.5 (3.2) | 24.2 (3.1) | 24.9 (3.3) | .75 |
| Tumor location | .181 | |||
| Right | 10 | 4 | ||
| Left | 4 | 9 | ||
| Bilateral | 1 | 0 | ||
| Tongue | 4 | 5 | ||
| Palate | 1 | 1 | ||
| Stage | ||||
| I | 10 | 7 | 3 | .212 |
| II | 7 | 2 | 5 | |
| III | 5 | 4 | 1 | |
| IVa | 16 | 7 | 9 | |
| IVb | 1 | 1 | ||
| Surgery method RND |
2 | 0 | 2 | .54 |
| mRND | 8 | 4 | 4 | |
| FND | 8 | 3 | 5 | |
| SND | 13 | 8 | 5 | |
| Bilateral ND | 8 | 5 | 3 | |
| SAN preserved | 37 | 19 | 18 | 1 |
| IJV preserved | 32 | 18 | 14 | .235 |
| SCM preserved | 24 | 12 | 12 | 1 |
| Flap | 34 | 18 | 16 | .66 |
| Flap type | .44 | |||
| RFFF | 20 | 13 | 7 | |
| ALTF | 6 | 3 | 3 | |
| FOFF | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| VLMC | 5 | 2 | 3 | |
| PMMC | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Lymph nodes removed | 41 (19.2) | 45.3 (22.8) | 36.1 (13.5) | .06 |
| Therapy sessions | 9.2 (9.7) | 7.8 (8) | 10.7 (11.3) | .4 |
BMI = body mass index, MLD = manual lymphatic drainage, SAN = spinal accessory nerve.