Cording: a treatable complication of breast cancer surgery

[摘要] I had the misfortune of suffering twice from cording, following two operations to remove lymph nodes, the second a mastectomy. None of the GPs I met knew what cording was or which treatment to offer. Raising awareness and informing GPs about cording is an urgent task, given the large number of women affected. Cording (or as it’s sometimes known — axillary web syndrome, AWS) is a painful common side effect of lymph node removal during breast cancer surgery, yet it is often under-recognised and therefore left untreated. This is particularly relevant to GPs, who are often the first port of call for help. Recognising and understanding the symptoms could facilitate a prompt referral to physiotherapy and accelerate healing. With appropriate physiotherapy …

[学科分类] 卫生学