Axillary reverse mapping in N0 patients requiring sentinel lymph node biopsy – A systematic review of the literature and necessity of a randomised study

Axillary reverse mapping in N0 patients requiring sentinel lymph node biopsy – A systematic review of the literature and necessity of a randomised study
Parks RM, Cheung KL
The Breast, June 2017 Volume 33, Pages 57–70

Axillary reverse mapping (ARM) is a technique to map and preserve arm lymphatics which may be damaged during surgery, resulting in lymphoedema.This work systematically reviews the incidence of lymphoedema following sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) + ARM, compared to SLNB alone, for clinically node negative disease, as well as recurrence rate, other morbidity and the feasibility and difficulties of ARM.

Arm lymphoedema after breast cancer

Arm lymphoedema after breast cancer. The lancet oncology, May 2013, Vol. 14(6), p.442-43

Mortimer, P.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(13)70097-4/fulltext?_eventId=login&rss=yes

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Breast-cancer-related lymphoedema is a substantial problem in women after they have undergone breast cancer treatment. Despite the introduction of breast-conserving surgery and minimal lymphatic intervention (eg, sentinel-lymph-node biopsy [SLNB]), incidence rates remain disappointingly high. In The Lancet Oncology, Tracey DiSipio and colleagues report the findings of their systematic review and meta-analysis in which they shown that roughly one in five women with breast cancer will develop arm lymphoedema. The incidence was four times higher in women undergoing axillary lymph-node dissection compared with those who received sentinel-lymph-node biopsy.