What happened?
A 56-year-old woman being evaluated for right breast carcinoma presented with breast enlargement, a non-healing wound at a fine-needle aspiration site and continuous lymphorrhoea. The unusual presentation caused repeated clothing soakage, skin damage and substantial distress.
Clinical findings
- The wound measured approximately 5 × 6 cm and had necrotic margins and slough, with surrounding oedema, induration and skin maceration.
- The patient reported heaviness and sleep disruption because fluid leakage required frequent clothing changes.
- The report describes breast lymphoedema with lymphorrhoea rather than the more familiar upper-limb lymphoedema after breast cancer treatment.
Rehabilitation described in the report
- The wound was dressed and a modified wrap-around compression technique was applied using soft-roll pre-wrap and crepe bandage, with support routed around the ipsilateral shoulder.
- The patient and caregiver were taught how to continue the dressing and compression approach at home; the bandage was changed regularly to manage fluid soakage.
- Upper-limb mobility exercises and concurrent medical management were also described; the case does not isolate the effect of compression from other care.
Reported outcomes
- After approximately two weeks, lymphorrhoea had resolved and clothing soakage stopped.
- Skin induration reduced and wound dimensions decreased to approximately 4.2 × 5.1 cm, with improvement in satellite wounds and reported quality of life.
Clinical lessons to consider
- Lymphoedema can affect the breast itself and may present with skin leakage, maceration and wound-care challenges.
- Listen to the patient's immediate quality-of-life concerns while the underlying diagnosis is being investigated.
- Compression must be individualized to wound status, skin tolerance and specialist advice; this case is not a routine self-bandaging protocol.
Limitations — what this case cannot tell us
- This is a single palliative-care case involving compression and concurrent pharmacological management.
- The contribution of each component cannot be separated, and the authors note that evidence for pharmacological treatment of lymphoedema is limited.
Original source
Aradhana Shukla, Nitesh Gonnade, Manoj Kamal. “Management of Lymphoedema and Lymphorrhoea With Wrap-around Compression in Breast Secondary to Carcinoma Breast: A Case Report.” Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 2024. DOI: 10.25259/IJPC_165_2023
View the original publicationThis page is an independently written educational summary, not a reproduction of the full paper. Check the original article for complete methods, outcome tables, references and licensing.