Publication:

Prevalence of external and internal lymphedema secondary to head and neck cancer treatment

Background Patients of head and neck cancer are at risk of developing secondary lymphedema after being treated for head and cancer. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of secondary head and neck (HNL) lymphedema in post treated patients of head and neck cancer (HNC).

Methods This was a prospective observational study including 48 head and neck cancer patients who were atleast 3 months post treatment. The present study was conducted in the department of ENT, GMC Jammu for a period of 1 year from February 2018 to March 2019.

Results Forty patients (43.34%)  were males and 8 were females with age ranging from 25 to 82 years. 58.33% patients in our study had some form of lymphedema. Out of these patients, 21.43% had only external lymphedema, 35.71% had only internal lymphedema and 42.86% had combined lymphedema.

Conclusions Lymphedema should be examined in the patients with head and neck cancer patients.